Drizzle Boy, as he is known to his family and friends, is an autistic young man who is beginning university study in the hope of one day becoming an astronaut. He’s desperate to assert his independence as he embarks on his journey into adulthood.
Playwright Ryan Ennis has based his character for his 2022-2023 Queensland Premier’s Drama Award-winning play, on his own experiences as a neurodivergent person. It is directed by Daniel Evans who is neurodivergent, with neurodivergent actor Daniel R Nixon, quite brilliant as Drizzle Boy.
Throughout the play we experience the world through the eyes of Drizzle Boy, aided by a remarkable set design by Christina Smith, which on entering the theatre, appears to be a raised circular blue stage set in the vastness of a normally unseen backstage environment.
As the play progresses, through the inventive lighting by Matt Scott and video projections by Neville Howell, the stage, replete with myriad drawers and trapdoors. gradually morphs into a succession of unlikely spaces that make up Drizzle Boys’ world, including a lecture theatre, his mum’s kitchen, a park, the inside of a spaceship, until finally, a starry planetarium.
Throughout the play all the relevant people in Drizzle Boy’s life are performed by just two actors, who, with the help of clever costuming, populate his world.
Expertly manipulating a series of lightning-fast costume changes, Judy Hainsworth, seen earlier this year in Canberra in Shake & Stir’s production of Fourteen, plays, among others, Drizzle Boy’s girlfriend, Juliet; his idol Russian astronaut, Valentina Tereshkova; Dustin Hoffman; and most importantly, his mother; who’s driven to distraction by Drizzle Boy’s inability to express his feeling and his rejection of her help as he fights for his independence.
Similarly, Anthony Gooley undertakes a number of roles including a monstrous Baphomet who haunts him; Hans Asperger; and his loving father, desperate to connect with a son who is unable to tolerate his efforts to establish father/son intimacy.
Throughout all this, Daniel R. Nixon, who never leaves the stage, offers a tour de force performance with his creation of a lovable character who while seeking acceptance from those around him is determined to live his life his own way while marching to a different drum.
Drizzle Boy is one of those rare productions which surprises from beginning to end. Not only does it delight as an entertainment, it also performs a valuable service by shining a light subtly subverting our preconceptions about those born to live life differently.
Drizzle Boy
Playhouse – Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square, Canberra
Performance: Wednesday 13 November 2024
Season: 13 – 16 November 2024
Information: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
Drizzle Boy will be presented at the Redland Performing Arts Centre on Thursday 21 November 2024.
Image: Daniel R Nixon as Drizzle Boy – photo by Morgan Roberts
Review: Bill Stephens OAM