Review: State Theatre Company: Euphoria

Commissioned by Country Arts SA, State Theatre’s Euphoria is a must-see, told with great spirit and first class acting.

State Theatre’s Euphoria stars Ashton Malcolm and James Smith Picture: Chris Herzfeld, Camlight Productions

Emily Steel’s Euphoria is, quite simply, one of the finest pieces of new stage writing to grace an Adelaide stage for a good many years.

Commissioned by Country Arts SA and developed in consultation with regional communities, it’s a spirited tale of love and loss.

Written as a two hander with about a dozen characters, Ashton Malcolm and James Smith both do multiple duty with supreme confidence and great style.

The lead characters for both are Meg, a schoolteacher whose pivotal role in a country town community is held more by luck than anything else – for she harbours a dark secret – and Ethan, an outgoing yet underachieving teenager with buried pain of his own.

State Theatr’se Euphoria stars Ashton Malcolm and James Smith. Picture: Chris Herzfeld, Camlight Productions

Malcolm and Smith both switch between characters with lighting speed, and Steel’s writing is so keen, and Nescha Jelk’s direction so nimble, that the sparks really fly.

Many of the exchanges are laugh-out-loud funny, with a special laurel to Smith whose moody, petulant teenager is a joy – and a frustrating one to every parent in the house, all of whom were groaning with recognition – to behold.

Euphoria has a deliberate focus on mental illness, depression, anxiety, personality disorders and the like.

James Smith in Euphoria. Picture: Chris Herzfeld, Camlight Productions

These are handled honestly and insightfully, neither dumbed-down nor sugar-coated, and where there is humour, it neither trivialises nor dismisses suffering.

It likewise doesn’t end perfectly, for life isn’t like that.

The final scene, where Ethan seems to have confronted at least one of his demons, suggests there might be more of this tale to tell.

I’ll be first in line for a ticket. Euphoria is a must-see.

State Theatre Company - Euphoria

Space Theatre

7 May (season to 15 May)