Southbank Theatre (Melbourne Theatre Company)

“I thought you were going to tell me I didn’t need the pills anymore,” says eighteen-year-old Anna (Max McKenna) to her child psychiatrist, Vivienne (Louisa Mignone). Anna has completely misread the tenor of the conversation, which was actually about the need for her to transition towards seeing a therapist trained to work with adults. This early moment encapsulates the key struggles of The Almighty Sometimes, a coming-of-age story illustrating a young woman torn between emancipation and comfort, with the reality of a never-defined yet ever-present mental illness adding layers of complexity to what would otherwise be a universally relatable tale.  This multi-award-winning drama by Kendall Feaver has been staged in Australia before by Queensland Theatre and Griffin Theatre Company, yet the issues explored in this iteration from Melbourne Theatre Company feel topical and fresh with tight direction from Hannah Goodwin.   Screen legend Nadine Garner (Savage River, Neighbours, City Homicide) plays Renee, a school teacher and dedicated mum to ‘troubled’ daughter Anna. Alongside Anna’s new boyfriend Oliver (Karl Richmond) and her psychiatrist, Renee grapples with supporting her daughter as she pushes against the routines and limits that kept her safe during her adolescence.  Having recently rediscovered pages upon pages of her childhood writings, Anna has begun to wonder if the version of her that existed before she went on medication was a child prodigy destined for literary greatn

How many details do you remember from your childhood? What about your adolescence? In Emma Mary Hall’s World Problems, Carly Sheppard plays a woman who seemingly remembers almost everything. Sheppard crawls forth from a large funnelled tube reminiscent of a black hole and begins to recount details of a childhood spent in suburban Adelaide, switching between the mundane and monumental. The vast majority of the sentences that make up what turns out to be an hour-long monologue begin with “I remember…”, with the exception of rare moments where she points out the gaps in her memory. Landmark historical events like September 11 and the fall of the Berlin Wall intertwine with day-to-day details like moments at school or the best fish and chip shop in the entire world. At first, we can trace the narrative to a specific time period – she remembers dial-up internet and her first Nokia, but not her first smartphone. Gradually though, hints of a dystopian future characterised by social disintegration and ecological disaster emerge. Where does memory stop and speculation begin? It’s difficult to tell.  Dann Barber’s greyed-out set and costumes mirror the warped timeline, as tight sci-fi-style garments are layered over with casual garb that could fit within many parts of the 20th or 21st centuries. An analogue TV and a timeless teddy bear (soon ripped apart to great effect) add to the thought-provoking jumble of it all. As the production continues, we’re definitely not in Kansas anymore,