Told in snapshots from over forty years, Scenes From A Friendship is a platonic love story about deep friendship.

Written by Jane Upton, the connection between the friends is shown in ways that demonstrate a special kind of intimacy. They’re the kind of friends who not only finish each other’s sentences but share an apple, taking a few bites before passing it on.

We first encounter Billy (Thomas Campbell) and Jess (Ainslie McGlynn) as teenagers, wannabe actors preparing for their Year 9 play. They confess who they fancy and their dreams for the future, but also share the confusion and turmoil they experience as they discover their sexuality.

Scenes From A Friendship taps into nostalgia, with the intensity of youth particularly visceral as Billy recounts his date. Jess is emotionally invested, wanting to know every word, every detail. It brings back memories of teenage exchanges that you just had to tell your best friend.

Over four decades of friendship, life moves from school to relationships, careers, hopes and dreams, marriage and children. Of course, there are fights and words to regret, but the play doesn’t tip into darkness. It doesn’t need to. Life provides enough drama. The audience is drawn in, as evidenced by the groans when things don’t always work out.

Directed by Craig Baldwin, the production is energetic and at times chaotic, with McGlynn and Campbell dancing, leaping, and moving throughout the theatre space, occasionally even sitting with the audience.

From scene to scene, the mood shifts from light-hearted to deep intensity. While emotionally intense, the play remains authentic. Friendships and relationships naturally change over time. Distance, circumstances and positions of success all alter the dynamic. Sometimes, we find ourselves watching from afar as someone you were once so close to becomes someone whose life we barely share. Scenes From A Friendship is filled with snapshots that everyone can relate to.

Shifting through time, Felix Partos (sound designer and composer) uses music to move through four decades of friendship, taking us from 1987 to present day.

Baldwin also takes on the role of set designer, working with a minimalist set. The only props are boxes scattered throughout the theatre, labelled ‘skinny jeans, don’t buy more’, ‘grannie panties’, ‘what was I thinking’ and ‘arguments I won’.

Sometimes we “catch up”, but through the highlights, how much do we really share? At one point, Jess tells Billy, “If we don’t tell the truth, we’re just people that once knew each other.” It’s a poignant observation about how friendship needs honesty, openness and acceptance, even more than a shared history.

Scenes From A Friendship is a play to see with your bestie, or perhaps that friend you’ve been meaning to catch up with.