You’d be forgiven for thinking the revival of Savages that opened at St Kilda’s Theatre Works last Friday was its premiere, such is how it resonates in the cultural zeitgeist.
In the wake of multiple headlines in Australia involving multiple teenage boys, in the wake of the University of Melbourne’s study into misogyny and extremism (whose results last month confirmed young people are significantly more likely to hold hostile views towards women), Savages asks the question what happens when Australian boys grow up to become Australian men.
The play debuted in 2013 and was inspired by the tragic death of Dianne Brimble. In 2002, Dianne boarded a cruise ship with family and friends. Less than 24 hours later, she would be found dead of a GHB overdose in a cramped cabin that belonged to four men – men whose statements changed and who partied and enjoyed the rest of their holiday as if nothing had happened.
Patricia Cornelius has always had an element of fearlessness in her writing, and a similar fearlessness abounds in this production by Aperture Productions.
Director, Kitan Petkovski, has fashioned with his cast a razor-sharp work that dissects not toxic masculinity so much as it does masculinity in general, particularly in Australia. Notions of mateship and myths born at Gallipoli are seen as they all too often are today: dangerous and predatory pack behaviour.
We get a dark glimpse of the pack during a gripping prelude in which the cast move as some wild unnamed beasts, compressing and summarising the story to come with all its posturing, cajoling, bullying and feeding.
The muscular choreography from Freya List weaves itself excellently with the language around it. Cornelius’ dialogue is very lyrical, almost musical at times, with refrains, rhymes and other patterns. So too in the movement, beautiful and menacing in a way that makes you hope the fourth wall is at least as strong as the glass barrier at the zoo.
Bianca Pardo’s set design is a clever slice of a cruise ship, placed against an enormous wall of blue fabric that curves towards the audience just enough to feel unsettling.
Yet for all the stylised aspects of the show, possibly the most frightening thing about Savages is how organic it all feels as the story unfolds. Rabbit (AYA), Craze (Laila Thaker), George (Zoe Boesen), and Runt (Nicci Wilks) do incredible work, their ensemble crackling with chemistry and truth.
This isn’t a group of over-the-top villains, instead pitiful characters who have been taught to equate empathy with weakness. They are not only emotionally distant from each other, but also themselves.
In a later compelling scene they try to outdo each other by comparing scars, which inadvertently becomes a revelation of child abuse. However, the reaction from the other three isn’t care, rather a mix of avoidance and derision.
They help us understand that these men are everywhere – not only men like Greg Anderson or Rowan Baxter, but men who never make the headlines – men who feel empty and angry and entitled to a woman’s body.
It’s a reality brought into devastating relief in the play’s final moments, a literal stripping away of costume and voice. You won’t find much hope in Savages, but you will find a brilliant and vital production that needs to be seen now more than ever.
Savages
Theatre Works, 14 Acland Street, St Kilda
Performance: Friday 4 September 2026
Season continues to 12 September 2026
Information and Bookings: www.theatreworks.org.au
Images: Nicci Wilks, Zoe Boesen, Laila Thaker and AYA in Savages – photo by Pia Johnson | Zoe Boesen, Laila Thaker, Nicci Wilks and AYA in Savages – photo by Pia Johnson | Zoe Boesen, AYA, Nicci Wilks, and Laila Thaker in Savages – photo by Pia Johnson
Review: June Collins