Babyteeth

You will either greatly admire this unsettling, powerful play, or not like it at all. It sharply divided the audience the night I attended, some stalking out, others surreptitiously wiping away tears in Act 2. It is a searing, at times very funny, deeply moving work that is very well written and has some great set speeches – and yes, it contains lots of strong language. In its analysis of the fragility of youth, life and death it is perhaps similar to that other great modern Australian classic, Michael Gow's Away.

Director Eamon Flack has assembled a fantastic cast and crew, all of whom give of more than their best. Written by Rita Kalnejais specifically for Belvoir, its theme is what she calls the “violent sweetness” of life.

Set in the present, Babyteeth introduces us to what at first appears a group of more or less ordinary Sydneysiders, going about their daily lives. At the centre of it all is Milla, 14 and dying of leukaemia. Before we meet her, Milla has already passed away; we learn of her death simultaneously with her parents: Anna (excellently played by Helen Buday), stressed, obsessive, bordering on over-the-top paranoid hysteria and now unhappily dependent on mood altering prescription drugs, her grief subsumed in the elegiac music at the end; and Henry (Greg Stone), a psychiatrist on shaky ground himself, internally unravelling, self-medicating and treating his family as if they were patients.

Into this mix comes young, jittery, handsome Moses (Eamon Farren), who helps Milla when she suffers a nosebleed on the train to school. In some ways he becomes Milla's protective guardian angel – but of life or death?

The supporting cast includes Milla's swarthy, ursine music teacher, terrifically played by Russell Dykstra; lonely, exiled and suffering from unexpressed artistic frustration, his anger and bitterness are a curmudgeonly facade for a deeply caring person. And then there’s the family’s somewhat ditzy, heavily pregnant neighbour Toby, delightfully performed by Kathryn Beck.

As Milla, the linchpin of this multi-layered, complex work, Sara West is brilliant, giving a magnetic, poignant performance. She is compelling and life-affirming as the headstrong and defiant, yet inwardly crumbling teen. Her powerful speeches, especially in Act 2, are handled deftly.

Robert Cousin's set is amazing. Using a large, speeding revolve we see various rooms of the house – the white, pristine kitchen, Henry's office, the music teacher's home; the set also shifts us back and forth in time. Much use is also made of venetian blinds and billowing curtains. The lighting by Niklas Pajanti is exceptional.

This challenging, confrontational play – a cry from the heart from a major voice of the younger generation – asks the Big Questions about life and death and, combined with figs, eggs, morphine, dogs and an eight-year-old Vietnamese violin prodigy, it seeks to explore the joys of being alive and the magic concept of grace.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Babyteeth
By Rita Kalnejais
Director: Eamon Flack
Set Design: Robert Cousins
Costume Design: Alice Babidge
Lighting Design: Niklas Pajanti
Composer: Alan John
Sound Design: Steve Francis
Cast: Kathryn Beck, Helen Buday, David Carreon, Sean Chu, Russell Dykstra, Eamon Farren, Greg Stone, Sara West

Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney
11 February–18 March 2012
Bookings: belvoir.com.au