Adapted by Jeanine Tesori (music) and Lisa Kron (book and lyrics) from Bechdelâs eponymous 2008 graphic memoir,
the show opened on Broadway as the first mainstream musical to feature a young lesbian protagonist, collecting five Tony awards, including best musical. That watershed moment merely touched upon the showâs innovative approach to its subject material, and this gorgeous Australian premiere, under the direction Dean Bryant, is a production infused with the sweeping emotion of its source material.
Maggie McKenna, Lucy Maunder and Marina Prior in Fun Home. Photograph: Prudence Upton
The scene is set in the family home in small-town Pennsylvania, where Alison spent her childhood but also where her parents ran the family business, the Bechdel Funeral Home. In one of the first musical numbers, Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue, the family â consisting of Small Alison (played by Karelina Clarke, a role also shared with Katerina Kotsopoulos and Mia Honeysett), he