Across 1 hour and 50 minutes Justine Clarke’s one person performance in Girls and Boys at the STC absolutely enthrals, leaving the audience in raptures at the power and concentration of her delivery.
Supported by Mitchell Butel’s seamless direction, Clarke sheds all memories of her Play School days, and following her previous show, Julia, also for the STC, delivers her into the pantheon of Australia’s great actors.
With Clarke and Butel staging Girls and Boys (writer Dennis Kelly) in its third iteration in four years, the play has become one of the most frequently produced English texts in Australian theatre, and this full-scale production at Wharf 1 gives it the prominence that it deserves.
Clarke plays the woman, unnamed, as she hangs side set, telling us about her awakening as a young woman, discovering drinking, drugging and shagging, which she relates in a confessional tone, delivered with an Essex gal accent.
In a series of monologues, interspersed with interactions with her unseen children, (Danny and Leanne), she recounts her life’s arc from meeting her husband in an airport queue, and their separate rises in society as they hard scramble to find a safe place in order to raise kids.
The husband is an initially successful furniture importer, but after a slow decline, he goes bankrupt.
Meanwhile, the woman, through the gift of the gab, scores a job working at a documentary production company, eventually, with production partner Liam, becomes a successful film producer, winning awards and contracts.
Eventually this slice of life drama takes a dark turn, foreshadowed by the stereotypical gender roles played out by the children, especially the often destructive roles played out by Dennis, and the family unit shifts dramatically.
Without giving the plot twist away, one term the woman uses to describe what follows is “family annihilation” – with figures showing that around 92% of familicide cases are committed by the male partner.
It is here that the play breaks a fourth wall within a fourth wall, when the woman breaks character to present us with statistics, that the script also departs from its tone of intimacy, and marks a somewhat pedagogic shift.
That Butel has Girls and Boys long script under control is never in doubt, as he has supplied Clarke with fluid, and at times heart rendering business that works in tandem with her delivery.
It has the effect of keeping us closely engaged from the woman’s opening words to when the houselights come up, which at 110 minutes might be a relief for some.
Seeing Clarke in Dennis Kelly’s long distance flight by herself is never a chore, as she has mastered her vocal delivery and stage business to make both seamless, and always engaging and believable.
Designer Alisa Paterson has repurposed the set of a comfortable suburban house with arched recesses holding the memories of the family, centred behind a comfortable couch and a bunch of footstools that are used with ingenuity as a child’s playground set.
The set’s colour palette of pinks and blues is also a nod to Play School’s colourful sets, and helps anchor Clarke’s character in familiar territory.
Alan John’s experience as a composer shines throughout, with his tasteful and brief mood setting introductions to the various scenes, while Nigel Levings has also shown similar restraint and artistry with his lighting.
Girls and Boys is a tough ask for any audience, but one that is ultimately rewarding to see an actor shine in her command of a challenging role.
Girls & Boys
Wharf 1 Theatre – Wharf 4/5, 15 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay (Sydney)
Performance: Wednesday 30 September 2026 (1.00pm)
Season continues to 1 November 2026
Information and Bookings: www.sydneytheatre.com.au
Images: Justine Clarke in Girls & Boys – photos by Sam Roberts
Review: John Moyle