A cross-dressed blend of The Omen and Annie, with an added dose of camp humour, Little Mercy tells the story of Roger and Virginia Summers, a couple who lack one thing: a child. After adopting eight year old Mercy, the doting parents’ household seems complete, but when their little girl arrives home from a picnic with a disturbing souvenir, Virginia begins to suspect the child isn’t quite the angel she’d hoped for. Hiring a strict governess to reform the degenerate child has little impact, and soon the play builds towards an inevitable and bloody climax – though not before a number of hilarious and over the top twists in the storyline.
Influenced by such classic horror movies such as Rosemary’s Baby, the Sisters Grimm’s Little Mercy follows the stereotypical ‘problem child with dismissed mother’ storyline. The hilarious presence of scenes such as one in which the carpet is pulled out from under Virginia’s running feet during a dream sequence are an obvious throwback to the Hitchcock era. Yet the sometimes-shocking scenes in Little Mercy are firmly tongue in cheek, and the audience are invited to leave their inhibitions at the door.
First performed several years ago in a Melbourne car park, Sisters Grimm won themselves a slot in the Sydney Theatre Company’s 2013 season via the STC’s Rough Draft script development program. This is the company’s first foray into a mainstream theatre and they use the space to its full advantage. From the kitsch opening credits on the flip chart at stage right, to Mercy’s off-set tantrums, as well as the imaginative use of lighting and smokescreens, the senses are assaulted from all angles.
A foreboding musical score by the talented Steve Toulmin further enhances the atmosphere during the production, which features stellar performances from co-writer Ash Flanders (Virginia), Jill McKay (Mercy) and Luke Mullins, who pulls off the significant double-act of playing both Roger and Mercy’s governess, Miss Trentham.
Flanders and co-writer and director Declan Green have placed a refreshing spin on the traditional evil orphan tale and set the Sydney Theatre Company alight with their special brand of drag theatre and shameless puns. Their standing ovation on opening night was richly deserved. Expect tickets for this fiendishly entertaining show to sell quickly.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Sydney Theatre Company and Sisters Grimm present
Little Mercy
Written by Ash Flanders and Declan Greene
Directed by Declan Greene
Designer: David Fleischer
Lighting and AV Director: Verity Hampson
Composer, sound designer and musician: Steve Toulmin
Cast: Ash Flanders, Jill McKay, Luke Mullins
Wharf 2 Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company
7 – 24 March.
