Emerald City
Writer: David Williamson
Director: Mark Kilmurry
Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli
July 23 – August 23, 2025
Emerald City is an energising dose of satirical comedy on these cold, wintry nights. Nothing delights Sydneysiders more than to see the foibles of their beloved city and its citizens explored with the laser-like perception of Australia’s favourite playwright. From the gales of laughter, it seems this revamped version of his iconic play resonates just as much with a contemporary audience as it did at its inception.
Colin Rogers (Tom O’Sullivan), a successful playwright experiencing a dry spell in his career, decides to relocate from drizzly, conservative Melbourne to the warmer, sub-tropical city with the magnificent harbour, in the hope of fresh opportunities. His wife, Kate (Rachel Gordon), a publishing editor, is less optimistic but willing to give it a try.
They are soon caught up in the maelstrom of Sydney’s conflicting, fast-paced drive towards wealth and the all-encompassing yearning for harbour view residences. The play examines sets of rivalries: the old Sydney-Melbourne comparison, the struggle between artistic integrity and commercial interests, trying to preserve Australian cultural identity against pervasive American influence and the more personal ones revolving around marital fidelity.
And there are the various movers and shakers in this city to contend with. Colin tentatively teams up with a wannabe producer, Mike McCord (Matt Minto), who wants to co-write with him, but whose intentions are purely to make money – lots of it. Despite his angst about losing his artistic integrity, Colin is gradually drawn into more commercial projects.
His agent, Elaine (Danielle Carter), is dubious about Colin’s choices, but she too has a harbourside mortgage to finance and clearly everyone is working towards and protecting their own agenda. Kate, however, still manages to maintain her artistic integrity by holding out for publication of her Aboriginal author’s book which gets nominated for the Booker prize.
Drifting between these anxiety-ridden, middle-aged contenders and adding a touch of youthful sparkle, is Mike’s girlfriend, the beautiful Helen (Aisha Aidara), a poster child for 80s fashion with her bubbly hairdo and designer fashion. Ultimately, all their efforts are futile unless they can convince their merchant banker, Malcolm (Rajan Velu), to finance them.
Mark Kilmurry directs his excellent performers with an assurance that highlights the wonderful comedy and opportunity for characterisation. The acting, too, is immensely satisfying with the cast clearly enjoying their witty dialogue and great one-liners.
Tom O’Sullivan plays Colin with relatable diffidence and anxiety, Rachel Gordon as his wife is supportive but also subtly competitive. Matt Minto injects huge energy into his role as the wheeler-dealer Mike, his characterisation drawing much laughter from the audience. Aisha Aidara, as Helen, is charming and visually attractive, while Rajan Velu’s Malcolm is a typical businessman – corporate efficiency with his eye on the bottom line.
The attractive set (Dan Potra) is depicted as a huge film strip and inevitably consists of the opera house and the much-desired harbour views in various incarnations, sometimes as paintings, sometimes as monochrome drawings.
The cast can be forgiven for having some trepidation with Williamson in the audience, but they need not have worried – at curtain call, he gave them his nod of approval, no doubt much to their relief. All in all, it’s a terrific piece of theatre – vintage Williamson satire and humour, fine direction, strong performances and a sly dig at Sydney’s perennial mercenary and social obsessions.
