Do you know the one about the love triangle behind one of Australia’s most famous artistic exports? And the remarkable woman, who many argue was the guiding hand behind Sidney Nolan’s iconic Ned Kelly paintings? Get down to the Sydney Opera House to see how the paint and passion plays out in Sunday. Under the guidance of acclaimed director Sarah Goodes (Julia), this is playwright Anthony Weigh’s tribute to the late patron of the arts and Melbourne icon, Sunday Reed.
The extraordinary Nikki Shiels reprises her role in this Melbourne Theatre Company production, which is brought to the Harbour City with the helping hand of Sydney Theatre Company. A woman ahead of her time, Sunday Reed helped shape Australian modernism by co-founding the Heide artistic commune with her husband John Reed (played by Matt Day) on Melbourne’s then-rural edges in the 1930s.
The play focuses on the passionate love triangle between the Reeds and the Heide Circle’s most notable member, Sidney Nolan (James O’Connell). They are joined by Ratidzo Mambo as celebrated modernist painter Joy Hester, and Jude Hyland as Sweeney Reed.
As attested by critic Stephen A Russell in his three-star review of Sunday’s debut in Melbourne, there is brilliance to be discovered amidst the play’s somewhat dreary staging and drawn-out runtime. Especially when Shiels – who “shines as bright as the dappled Melbourne sunlight” – is given space to shine. After all, she is an actor of such high calibre that she swung in for Eryn-Jean Norvill during her celebrated turn in Kip Williams’ The Picture of Dorian Gray (the original staging, before it went global).
Sunday is playing at the Sydney Opera House until December 14. Find out more and snag your tickets over here. (Hot tip: discounted tickets are available to students, under 30s, and concession card holders.)
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