Head | Thorax | Abdomen

Currently playing at La Mama’s Courthouse Theatre, Head | Thorax | Abdomen emerges as one of the more intriguing and intellectually playful works currently on stage.

Written and directed by James Hazelden, this is a confident, tightly controlled production that leans fully into its own strangeness – and rewards audiences willing to sit inside its unsettling logic.

Hazelden constructs a world of fragmentation and uncertainty, where three deeply unreliable narrators circle one another under the watch of an unseen, disembodied presence.

Amy Moule (Wendy), Emily Carr (Isha), and Tim Wotherspoon (David) each deliver grounded, compelling performances that never overreach, allowing the script’s ambiguity to breathe.

Opposite them, Chris Tomkins as the Voice exerts an eerie gravitational pull – an omnipresent force that both connects and destabilises the narrative threads.

What unfolds is a darkly surreal riddle, constantly hinting at resolution but never quite surrendering it. Themes of love, death, sex, fidelity, murder, sadness, and revenge bleed into one another, forming something akin to a psychological maze.

There’s a distinct echo of David Lynch in its dreamlike menace, paired with a Kafka-esque sense of existential unease. Yet the work never feels derivative, it instead channels these influences into a distinctly theatrical mindtrap.

The staging is deceptively simple: three boxes anchor the space. This minimalism is elevated by Allan Hirons’ stark and beautifully realised lighting and sound design, which deepens the atmosphere and sharpens the sense of mystery without overwhelming the performers.

Hazelden’s production is both cerebral and sensory, weaving together three seemingly disparate narratives into a single elusive puzzle. The lingering question: can this puzzle ever truly be solved? feels less like a challenge and more like an invitation. In refusing easy answers, Head | Thorax | Abdomen is a haunting and rewarding piece of contemporary theatre.