It really is an extraordinary true story, and to have its main protagonists – Mark Colvin and Mary-Ellen Field who donated one of her kidneys to him – in the opening night audience added an extra frisson and emotion to the premiere of the new Australian play Mark Colvin’s Kidney. But whether the play transcends its narrative to create a compelling piece of theatre in its own right is debatable.

^{Sarah Peirse, Christopher Stollery and John Howard in Mark Colvin’s Kidney. Photo © Brett Boardman}

In a nutshell, for anyone who isn’t aware of the background to the piece, Field is an expat Australian intellectual property expert who was working for supermodel Elle Macpherson in London, when details of Macpherson’s private life appeared in the British tabloids in 2005. Suspecting Field of leaking the information, Macpherson forced her to go to a rehab centre in Arizona, even though she had never been an alcoholic, and then sacked her.

Field’s health, reputation and career took a severe battering. Eventually, it became clear that she was innocent and that Macpherson’s mobile had been hacked by reporters from the now defunct News of the World....