The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek | Cut & Run Productions
All images: Jasmine Prasser
The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek is a darkly funny take on environmentalism, misinformation, and compromise that takes some very big swings, but doesn’t quite stick its landing.
The play follows environmental scientist Georgina and bush ranger Harris, roommates in a remote cabin in the Tasmanian wilderness, as they deal with the aftermath of Georgina’s attempted murder of Irish poacher Mickey. What comes next is an at times pitch black comedy, commenting on the ways in which our beliefs shape us, and the butterfly effect that these worldviews can have. While many of the themes and ideas explored in The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek are heady and complex, its greatest quality is its humour—many moments had me cackling, and much of this is thanks to the excellent performances of its main cast. While everyone excelled in their roles, Malika Savory’s performance as girl guide/One Nation supporter Desiree blew me away, navigating both subtle dramatic deliveries and panto-style physical comedy with equal grace.
Fluctuating between fart jokes, climate change statistics, bong rips, and attempted murder, The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek is an eclectic piece of theatre, and this eclecticism occasionally leads to tonal whiplash. While some scenes had me laughing out loud, they were often followed up with incredibly dry moments of exposition, and though they were well written and deftly performed, these shifts often took me out of the work. It felt like the play had more ideas than it knew what to do with, and some concepts were left by the wayside as it went on. A key example of this is Ranger Harris’ MAGA hat, on prominent display from his first scene—neither the hat, nor Trump himself, are ever brought up, and the play seems to forget at times that he’s wearing it. One scene in which he critiques Desiree’s support for Pauline Hanson felt particularly confused, and this is symptomatic of much of The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek as a whole. Ideas keep stacking throughout the runtime, but by the time it all wraps up, many of them didn’t go anywhere.
All images: Jasmine Prasser
This is a violent play, both literally and figuratively, and not for the faint of heart. The work discusses bigotry, rape, and murder in very frank terms, and audiences should prepare themselves for some relatively intense depictions of these subject matters. While a lot of the violence throughout is comical in tone, one instance in the final act of simulated strangulation with a belt felt particularly visceral. Although I applaud Michaela Faux’s excellent performance in this scene, I was left feeling quite uneasy, and taken out of the flow of the play.
All this being said, I did like a lot of what the play was doing, and it very much feels like a play for our times. The central theme of a questioning of compromise felt particularly prescient, and the contrast between characters (both in personality and ideology) lent their interactions a particularly nuanced feel. In turn, the subject matter of environmental conservation and the inherent naive optimism required to undertake such work felt genuine and touching. I also felt that the comedy found a good middle ground between sharp and broad, with its unabashed and uncensored nature reminding me of the stylings of comics such as George Carlin or Frankie Boyle. It’s worth noting that this is the debut work from Cut & Run Productions (founded by lead actor Michaela Faux), and they should be commended for their execution. On all technical levels, The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek is as tight as could be expected, and I was particularly taken by the direction and set design.
If it wasn’t clear from this review, I liked The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek—more than I had expected. But the longer I sit with it, the more questions I’m left with. I encourage you to seek the work out, and form an opinion of your own.
