Port by English writer Simon Stephens is a brave choice for a first production by new Sydney theatre company December at KXT on Broadway, but it is also one that will put them in the spotlight as a theatrical producer to watch.
The play is essentially a social realist drama in the vein of Look Back in Anger and Taste of Honey, set in Stockport, a town near Manchester in England’s north.
It follows the journey of Racheal Keats as she navigates a difficult family life and her long struggle to find herself, with each episodic act giving a beat to her growth.
While the writer is using his hometown as a setting, the story is a universal one of any environment that suffers from economic and educational neglect, and how some survive while others fall by the wayside.
The Port can also be as much a real place or the interior space that people retreat to, or eventually reach as they seek a safe harbour, and this play, set from 1988 to 2002, and driven by the music of Madchester, provides a well-written framework for Grace Stamnas, as Racheal, to flex her theatrical muscles across her journey from age 11 to early adulthood.
At her side is brother Billy (Owen Hasluck) the one constant in her life, as her mother disappears, the father is somewhat absent, and the adults around her are dysfunctional, while her contemporaries are struggling with their own formative identities.
If this all sounds like a well-worn tale of woe, it is rescued by the brilliantly rhythmic writing of Stephens, brought to life by a well-honed ensemble of actors under the direction of Nigel Turner-Carroll.
Stamnas is captivating as she ages from the self-assured adolescent though her teenage years to her point of realisation, all the while propelled by her boundless energy and connectivity. Racheal’s development is gradual and largely internal, with her ending each episode of her life alone on the stage as the lights fall.
As Billy, Hasluck is the proverbial screw-up, bound up by a hyper energy and an inability to articulate that suggest autism, but ultimately it is a convincing performance that engages.
James Collins’ Danny is an early love interest for Racheal, and later shows us that even in a seemingly hopeless environment that a moral decision offers hope.
The role of Kevin (Kyle Barrett) is one that is totally predicable and is only saved by the actor’s keenly wired performance that brings to an end another beat in Racheal’s life.
Rachel Crossan has a moment as Lucy, while Finn Middleton plays Chris with a realism as if he was brought up on an estate.
The rest of the cast appear briefly in multiple roles, with Megan O’Connell as Christine and Anne, Benjamin Louttit as Ronald, Jake and Man, and Barrett again as Jonathan.
With the lack of deviation from the mundane in the text, this production could have easily slipped into a train wreck, but is saved by a well-matched ensemble, tight direction and a highly skilled team of creatives.
From a bleak landscape, at the end we get a glimmer of hope as we realise that the sun will shine again.
Port
KXT on Broadway, 181 Broadway, Ultimo (Sydney)
Season continues to 4 October 2025
Information and Bookings: www.kingsxtheatre.com
Images: Grace Stamnas in Port – photo by Philip Erbacher | Megan O’Connell, Owen Hasluck and Grace Stamnas in Port – photo by Philip Erbacher
Review: John Moyle