Review by Andrea Bunjamin
Male violence starts with all boys. But all men aren't born monsters.
Xavier Hazard’s play about a group of students in an elite Sydney boys school explores the contradicting nuances of being fostered by an institution determined on telling them who they are.
Told over the course of six years (Year 7 -12) from a series of rapid short scenes, we follow eleven characters as they navigate this exclusive world they call school. At its core, this is a story about connection and the types of bonds that patriarchal masculinity often demands from boys before they become men. A theatrical work that presents how vulnerability and aggression, compassion and cruelty can all exist under the same roof for these students. A story that makes you feel for them and fear them.
Drawing from the playwright’s own lived experiences in this world, All Boys is a thought-provoking chance to adjust our critical eyes for empathy. In his nurtured collaboration with director and fellow NIDA Graduate, Mehhma Malhi, the show has vastly evolved since its early developments in Melbourne. Bringing in a refined portrayal of each character’s emotional arcs in every scene. Something that has also been enhanced by the production’s all-female creative team in the process of tailoring these narratives to those familiar and new to it.
The standout quality of writing in the script is no easy feat to perform. With the inclusion of over 74 scenes and 20 locations, the cast collectively moves as a unit in every snippet. While the plot’s pacing manages to symbolise the gruelling idea of survival. Making elements like the transitional strike of a bell or the turning hands of a wall clock agonising as time passes. A part that naturally shifts the dynamics between characters as they contend with how the school changes them and the choices they make next. And heartbreakingly for those moments of vulnerability, their fear of weakness at times overcomes them. We see a friendship between Hugh (Harry Stacey) and Scott (Toby Carey) fracture after a traumatic incident. Or how the theme of sexuality plays in Connor (Leon Walshe) and Patrick’s (Victor Y Z Xu) arc.
The dialogue in Hazard’s words also breathes a language culture. Unpeeling the levels of harshness and misogyny that’s so socially acceptable in a reality when boys are protected by their privileges. Even including a terrifying reference that resembles the real-life offensive chants made by St Kevin’s College students in Melbourne back in 2019. Faisal Hamza’s and Louis Delaunay-Henbest’s portrayals as B-boy and A-boy are scarring depictions of those adamant on enforcing these troubling traditions.
For some characters, the inherited generational ripples of their upbringing influences how they connect with others. In the school’s debate team, the bright and academic Jack V (Braeden Caddy) does everything to make his father, an alumni of his school, proud. Scholarship student, Jack P (Jasper Lee-Lindsay) tries to adapt to his new world while hiding his background. While Jack MB (Jackson Hurwood) attempts to take advantage of every opportunity he gets in a school he unwillingly attends - like a drug trade.
Hazard has pointed out a resonating quote from Bell Hooks, ‘The Will To Change: Men, Masculinity and Love’ that perfectly encapsulates his work.
‘The first act of violence that patriarchy demands of males is not violence towards women, Instead patriarchy demands of all males that they engage in acts of self-mutilation.’
All Boys irrevocably falls into one of those exceptionally rare pieces of theatre that leaves you feeling cathartically and satisfyingly exhausted by what you just saw. A show that you know deep down will be bigger than itself.
Image Supplied
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