Re:group performance collective’s POV retains the poignancy and punch it had when I first saw it at Belvoir Downstairs in 2024. For one cast member on that occasion, the punch is hard enough to halt the show.

The work centres on Bub (played by young actor Mabelle Rose, in her final season in the role), an 11-year-old determined to make a documentary about her ceramic-artist mother as she prepares for an exhibition.

Armed with an expensive camera bought by her dad, Bub prises open a fraught family dynamic governed by the ups and downs of her mum’s hypermania.

But here’s the twist: Bub’s parents are played by different actors each night, who step on stage with next to no familiarity with the script. Bub acts as onstage director, guiding them through line readings and improvisations. It’s a cliff-edge walk for the performers, and not without risk. On this occasion POV derails when one of the improvising actors  – obviously experiencing deep discomfort – calls a show stop.

Mabelle Rose in POV. Photo supplied

The actor is quickly replaced by another, who performs courageously under the circumstances, but the spell is broken. Such...