With the sprawl of a Dickensian tome, Ruth Park’s monumental trilogy of novels would seem to many devoted fans near impossible to stage. But such fears would be ill-founded, as the wondrous Kate Mulvany has whittled down here, expanded there, and sprinkled her own brand of magic onto these cherished books to create a stage adaptation that is quite simply sublime. She is in magnificent partnership with Kip Williams, whose production so nimbly and poetically brings the story of the Kilkers and Darcys to life.

Jack Ruwald, Anita Hegh and Jack Finsterer in Sydney Theatre Company’s production of The Harp in the South © Daniel Boud  

So deftly you hardly believe it possible, Mulvany has condensed Park’s Missus and Harp...