Comedy, drama hand-in-hand in Queensland Theatre’s The Holidays

Live theatre is back and the world premiere of Queensland Theatre’s The Holidays proves it’s still a potent force for good.

Stars of Queensland Theatre's new play The Holidays, Louise Brehmer, Bryan Probets and Matthew Ianna. Picture: Liam Kidston.

A family driving to a beach holiday telling jokes and annoying each other - it could be any of us. And when the dad fluffs unannounced it’s all too real in The Holidays.

One of the things that really appeals about this new play by Queenslander David Megarrity is its authenticity and even though it’s not overtly identified as being set in Queensland, well, it has to be really. It’s all too familiar and everyone will recognise their own families in this moving three hander.

It won the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award last year, which seems only fair, and it has taken a while to get to the stage thanks to the pandemic.

It’s staging marks the reopening of the Bille Brown Theatre and I couldn’t imagine a better way to do that.

Directed by Bridget Boyle, one of our favourite directors (she has a magic touch for these sorts of stories) it stars Bryan Probets as the dad, Bob Holiday, Louise Brehmer as the mum, Summer Holiday (ha ha) and 15-year-old newcomer Matthew Ianna as the son, Oliver Holiday. Say that to yourself a couple of times quickly and you will get the joke, a joke Ianna points out to the audience.

He addresses the audience numerous times and even gets them involved in the goings-on at various points and that’s a nice touch.

Bryan Probets and Matthew Ianna in The Holidays

It all begins with that car journey to the beach house to visit granddad. Only grandad isn’t there in more ways than one. In his absence the house is a repository of memories for Bob Holiday who grapples with grief as he goes through the various items, particularly the paintings. It seems his dad was an artist - well there are paintbrushes around and he has quite an art collection including works by Ian Fairweather and Margaret Olley, works which are just stacked around the place but happen to be worth a lot of money.

They also appear on the wall once discovered thanks to some technical expertise. Designer Sarah Winter, lighting designer Jason Glenwright and production designer Nathan Sibthorpe have done a terrific job and this is a visually arresting theatrical work, beautifully staged with music by Sean Foran and sound designer Matthew Erskine and it has a bit of an Oz rock theme too with music by Australian Crawl and others. This is a reflection of the playwright and his era I suspect but heck, it’s everyone’s era really. Especially mine. What they do with Aussie Crawl’s ripper 1983 hit Reckless is very clever and pretty funny.

There are plenty of laughs along the way but there’s also a pall of grief hanging over the house and the holiday because grandad is still on the planet but not as he once was. Dealing with that is hard but in the end it brings the family together and hell, ultimately, that is what a holiday is supposed to do.

The Holidays is on at the Bille Brown Theatre, South Brisbane, until December 12; queenslandtheatre.com.au