Review: Playing Beatie Bow, directed by Kip Williams.
Playing Beatie Bow is the coming-of-age story of the teenage Abigail who, from her home in Sydney’s The Rocks, slips back in time to 1873. Here, she is taken in by the Tallisker/Bow family, immigrants from the Orkney Islands who run a confectionery shop. Abigail finds herself cast as the mysterious “Stranger” the subject of a Tallisker family prophecy which she must enact before she is able to return to her own time.
In adapting Ruth Park’s 1980 novel for the stage, Kate Mulvany carries forward Park’s detailed, loving attention to the city of Sydney and the lives that play out within it. Her adaptation thrums with heart, humour and a sense of creative legacy.