Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
November 9, 2018

“At last we’re doing something!” the white-aproned Mrs Custance declares to her husband, having invited the soon to be homeless Miss Docker to live with them in an act of charity that might salve their suburban ennui and justify their comfortable existence. They quickly find out, however, that living with Miss Docker – an insufferable do-gooder – will be harder than they thought.

Set in the late 1950s, Australian novelist and playwright Patrick White’s A Cheery Soul skewers the hypocrisy of the Australian middle class in what was his favourite play, set in the prototypical Sydney suburb of Sarsaparilla. The eccentric Miss Docker, played to acclaim by Robyn Nevin for Sydney Theatre Company over the years, is one of Australian theatre’s most memorable characters, and Sarah Peirse gives a masterful performance in this new production by STC Artistic Director Kip Williams.

Sarah Peirse in Sydney Theatre Company’s A Cheery Soul. Photo © Daniel Boud

It soon becomes clear to the Custances that their good deed will be thornier to navigate than they imagined, as their guest intrudes into every aspect...