By Debra Oswald. Director Nicole Madden. Henry Lawson Theatre, Werrington, NSW.. 26 Jun – 5 July, 2026

Reviewed : 24 June, 2026 *

Stories in the Dark written by Australian novelist, playwright and TV scriptwriter Debra Oswald, won the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for Best Play in 2008. Though Oswald writes from an Australian perspective, her work has universal appeal. In her plays for young people, she writes of their concerns and speaks in their “voices’. From Dags (1987) to Skate (2004) to House on Fire (2010) she has touched on issues of confidence, activism, sibling rivalry and family problems, all about very real characters and sprinkled with touches of humour and a little pathos.

Touches in the Dark is slightly different. Its setting is an imaginary war-torn city that could be anywhere. Here 12-year-old Tomas takes refuge in a damaged building where he meets teenaged Anna, who is older, more streetwise and aloof. But as fate has thrown them together – and as she is not as hard as she makes out – Anna helps the night pass more quickly by remembering stories she heard or read in better times. As she tells them the world of fairytale kings and princesses, witches and good spirits, ogres and dragons come to life on the stage, keeping fear at bay for a little while.

Stories in the Dark answers Henry Lawson Theatre’s aim of providing a range of theatre experiences for all of its members … and its audiences. With a cast of 12, all of whom could be young people and a theme that is universal, Stories in the Dark ticks several boxes!

The play has been special to Nicole Madden because of “the way stories let us escape from our daily lives, but also … help make sense of what is happening” in the world. What a challenge for a director! A cast of 12, mainly children, and two “scenarios” – the effects of war on a community, especially children, and bringing multiple fairy tales to life with appropriate costumes and props.

Madden sets her production on the full stage, utilising the benefits of its width to ‘house’ the necessary props and provide spaces for the cast to ‘hide’ when listening to Tomas and Anna then change to townspeople or story book characters as the need arises. Such a young cast with so many different scenes is hard to manage, but Madden wisely cast several experienced performers to double as characters, guides and on stage crew. It is interesting for an audience to watch those ‘double’ roles interchanging as the play proceeds.

Spencer Mitchell plays Tomas, a challenging role which Mitchell handles with moments of insight despite their own youth and inexperience of the sort of fear and anxiety that Tomas faces.

Leisel Hussey gives Anna the snooty confidence of an older teen that hides similar anxiety that she lets slip in moments of personal stress. Oswald’s choice of words and language ensures those scenes capture the innocence and bewilderment of both children.

Geoff Hacker, Angela Pezzano and Sandy Moffat play the adult townspeople and ‘storybook characters’, while at the same time overseeing the readiness of props and between scenes stillness. With the stage representing the town and story book land, the props used are many. A throne, a railway station message board, multiple water containers, cloaks, crowns, washing baskets, weapons, even a mythical dragon appear and disappear throughout the production.

Ellie Gail, Eilidh Quinn, Melody Joy Frith, Grace Haines and Bailey Wood play the children. Monty C and Chloe S play their much younger siblings. All show clear reactions to the noise of gunfire and bombing. All find special moments as they enact the stories Anna tells or show the effects of desolation faced by the townspeople – the hope of finding a message from a loved one at the railway station; the misery of waiting with buckets and jars in a queue for water.

Moving from those scenes into ‘hiding’ in watchfulness is not easy. Hopefully some lack of pace, focus and intent concentration will tighten as the production proceeds and the young actors adapt to audience reactions and scrutiny.

Stories in the Dark could be set in any war-torn country. The images it portrays are similar to those we hear about and see on television and social media all the time. In 2008, Debra Oswald saw the need to clarify those issues for children through theatre. Nearly 20 years later her play resonates just as clearly, especially for Nicole Madden who hopes that “if audiences come away with just one thought, I hope it is this: we need to do better for the children on this earth”.

Also published in Stage Whispers magazine

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