By Mary Rachel Brown. Ensemble Theatre. Director: Anna Houston. 29 June – 25 July, 2026
Reviewed : 2 July, 2026*
Who would ever call a dog “Mexican Tango” or “You can see Russia”? Greyhound owners and trainers is the answer! My father’s best dog was called “Come on Snoopy”! At home he was just “Mickey” and was the gentlest of dogs – but gee, could he run after that snare he’d been trained to chase – maybe by devious means! The Dapto Chaser hints at those devious means – as well as the other traits of the sub-cultures that are part of all competitive sport, and the gambling that they foster.
(How opportune that The Dapto Chaser is playing as the government is being challenged by all sides of parliament to ban gambling advertising on TV completely. Good timing Ensemble!)
In The Dapto Chaser, Mary Rachel Brown manages to capture the upshots of such addictions – the highs, the subsequent lows and the crafty guile of the shysters who benefit from the suffering of others. That she does so with comedy – including some great one-liners that are so typically Australian – as well a real empathy for the characters which makes for a clever piece of theatre.
Director Anna Houston has directed it with respect for what she describes as “muscularity of Mary’s writing, her immaculate punchlines, her ear for the idioms and rhythms of the racetrack.”
Houston has ensured the production has both the pace of the racetrack and the snarl of a skirmish. The carefully planned blocking and timing guarantee that the cynicism and pathos in the later scenes of the play are as important as the humour in the initial scenes – humour played with delightful characterisation and exquisite timing by the illustrious Peter Carroll.
Carroll’s interpretation of Errol Sinclair, an aged greyhound owner/trainer, confined to his recliner and adjacent oxygen tank is extremely clever. His ingenious control of the character and the dialogue is simultaneously very funny yet gently empathetic. He finds Errol’s stubborn will, temper and dogged determination to fight infirmity and beat the odds.
André de Vanny plays his younger son Jimmy, on whom Errol is greatly dependent but treats with disdain. De Vanny uses comic timing and finely controlled expressions, reactions and pause to show Jimmy’s strength and integrity despite the insecurity of constantly being put down by his father and his older brother Cess played by Justin Rosniak.
Rosniak finds love, hope and anguish in Cess’s dependence on the success of his “Dog Named Sue”. Rosniak is a spirited force on the stage, using space and desperate energy to sustain Cess’s confidence in the face of Jimmy’s concern about money and the future – and the derision of wealthy shyster Arnold Denny played with carefully and comically timed arrogant scorn and condescension by Marco Chiappi.
Anna Houston describes The Dapto Chaser as “tough and deeply poetic, personal and boldly political”. It’s quintessentially Australian – outspoken, brash, direct, facetious – with a sting in its tail that Anna Houston and her cast are wagging energetically!
First published in Stage Whispers magazine
* Opening Performance