Break of Day is not a pleasant night at the theatre. It’s confronting and coarse, and genuinely depressing. And of course, that’s the point. The experience of watching is challenging yet valuable, and I wish more Australians than just the faithful theatre-attending audience would see it.

Directed by Sarah Goodes, the play is set over one long night in a town called Burra Creek, the kind of Australian town we’ve all heard of, even if we can’t directly relate to living in. The setting is almost a major character, being so integral to the narrative – asking us to consider how much of our own life’s course is determined by the place we were born, and of course, the family we’re born into. Burra Creek is a town of poverty, cycles of family pain and few prospects. Yet the five characters we meet – Kat Stewart (Pamela), Sherry-Lee Watson (Rae), Theo Clarke (Jedediah), Chum Ehelepola (Sanjeeva) and Richard Piper (Pop) – each possess determination and grit, swinging between desolation and hope, with a desire for their life to mean something more than what both their circumstances and choices have dictated.

It must be recognised that Kat Stewart would be a drawcard for this play, and she absolutely delivers with a powerhouse performance as single mother Pam. She’s so real. You feel her desperation tangibly, while her gritted-teeth rage at the way her life is panning out, delivered through monologues, induces both pity and admiration. I also responded with a similar dichotomy of repulsion and compassion to the character of her father Pop (astoundingly performed by Richard Piper).

The playwriting by Steve Rodgers is a standout feature of this production. From the first monologue I found myself wanting to read the script just to be able to pore over the words again. There is sheer skill in making your characters wax poetic about the savagery of childbirth, questioning the loss of dreams, interspersed with super specific mentions of Subway and Mountain Dew being signifiers of the low socioeconomic world we’re moving in, while also swearing profusely. It’s a tribute to the talent of the performers that this never feels inauthentic.

Also creating a strong sense of place is the set cleverly designed by Anna Cordingley as a revolving stage which smoothly transitions between industrial to housing commission interiors. There won’t be many plays you see this year that feature not one, but two toilets.

Jethro Woodward‘s sound design is excellent, I loved how well it depicted the time of day and night, moving from crickets to waking birds and providing a subtle and realistic background. And absolutely perfect use of the song This is the Day by The The.

From the comments overheard as we left the theatre, the audience found it an emotionally intense but rewarding theatre experience. There is sadly something ironic, though, that the kind of Australian characters that this production renders so well are unlikely to see it, even though I wish they would. There is no more powerful theatre experience than to see a story similar to your own reflected on the stage.

4 stars

Presented by Malthouse Theatre Break of Day is playing at the Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse in Southbank, Melbourne until 29 August 2026.

Run Time: 1 hour 45 minutes (no interval)

For tickets visit Malthouse Theatre Book Now