Theatre/ “The Torrents”, by Oriel Gray, directed by Lexi Sekuless. At Mill Theatre until December 3. Reviewed by SIMONE PENKETHMAN.

THE new Mill Theatre’s premiere production is a 1955 Australian play, “The Torrents”, written by a woman and, in this instance played by an all-female and non-binary cast.

“The Torrents” are a father and son who run the local newspaper in a 19th-century, gold mining town, Koolgalla.

When new journalist, JG Milford (Lexi Sekuless) is employed, the entire staff are shocked to find that J stands for Jenny and their new colleague is a woman. 

Most of the action in this tight and witty play takes place in the newspaper office. 

The Mill Theatre is an intimate space. The audience was seated on two sides of the room, which gave us the feeling of almost being inside the office. 

The costumes and props were a feast for the eyes with furniture, typewriters and printing blocks evoking bygone times.

It’s a fast-paced play with comedy, romance, politics and feminism working together in a well-realised plot.

In Koolgalla there are tensions around the best way to use land. Is the gold rush over? Does the future lie in mining or in irrigated agriculture? 

Three quarters of a century after the play was written, these conversations still run hot across the country.

In 1955, the Playwrights’ Advisory Board, voted “The Torrents” best play of the year alongside Ray Lawler’s famous and perennial, “Summer of the Seventeenth Doll”.

And yet, “The Torrents” wasn’t published until 1988.

There are 10 male and two female roles in this show. The cast of nine played their mainly male characters with swagger and style. 

Kat Smalley’s performance as newspaper heir apparent and lad about town, Ben Torrent, struck a perfect balance between the vanity, arrogance and vulnerability of so many young men.

A surprising and beautiful musical element was arranged by Leesa Keen using the singing voices of the cast. 

Is Oriel Gray the most significant Australian playwright that we’ve never heard of?

Only last week, “The Guardian” asked: “Who’s afraid of Australian theatre? Why our plays aren’t treated like classics“. 

Director Sekuless could have simply staged a re-enactment of an important and neglected text, but in this case, she has exercised thoughtful, quirky and well-realised creative licence.