Hayes Theatre Co, Sydney
January 9, 2018

Though comparatively little known today, the Australian musical Darlinghurst Nights was a huge hit when Sydney Theatre Company premiered it in 1988 – and this 30th anniversary revival at the Hayes Theatre Co shows you why. It’s a beautiful little gem of a show with a distinctively Australian voice.

Inspired by the work of Sydney poet and journalist Kenneth Slessor, who lived in Kings Cross and wrote about the people he saw there, Darlinghurst Nights takes its name from a collection of Slessor’s poetry. Written by Max Lambert (music) and Katherine Thomson (book), the musical is set in the Cross during the 1920s and 30s at a time when it was the only place in Sydney where a bohemian life was possible and difference accepted. It was also a magnet for people arriving in Sydney with little money, and criminals.

Justin Smith and Sean O’Shea in Darlinghurst Nights. Photograph © Brett Boardman

The show features a narrator figure called Ken (Sean O’Shea), based on Slessor, and various colourful characters living in the Cross at that time, including Ken’s good friend Joe Lynch (Justin Smith), a political cartoonist...