The Old Fitz Theatre’s latest is a beast of a production based on a mind-bogglingly ambitious script that will leave many in the audience thrilled, others perplexed.

Filled to the brim with loquacious tête-à-têtes, jargon (academic and industry; and yes, I also took those critical theory classes in undergrad!) and amusing bon mots, Sydney playwright Emily Sheehan’s Frame Narrative feels at times like it’s deliberately trying to bamboozle its audience.

Megan O’Connell in Frame narrative. Photo © Phil Erbacher

The play is made up of multiple layers. The first concerns a famous filmmaker who has just completed production on a new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It’s a dark and stormy night when a stranger knocks at the door. It’s a keen young film critic and fan who seems to know more than she initially lets on.

The second story takes place on a film set, where a faded 1990s horror film star (played by a compelling Megan O’Connell, who seems to be channeling the likes of Re-animator’s Barbara Crampton and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2’s Caroline Williams) finds herself in conflict with a Gen Z colleague played by Madeline Li, whose layered...