Adapted from Tim Winton’s novel by playwright Tim McGarry, The Shepherd’s Hut begins with a feverish series of projected images introducing us to the characters.

George Shevtsov is “the old man”, apparently a former priest, who is marooned in a hut on the edge of a sun-beaten salt lake. He also doubles as the growling father of “the boy” (Ryan Hodson), who finds himself similarly marooned after fleeing an unnamed act of violence.

George Shevtsov and Ryan Hodson in The Shepherd’s Hut. Photo © Philip Gostelow

Actors Ella Prince and Ben Mortley are the chorus, also playing two thugs named “the hair” and “the hat”. Prince doubles as the boy’s love interest, “the girl”.

Characters are eventually given actual names – the old man is Fintan McGilis, the boy Jaxie Clackton, the girl Lee – but they are more commonly referred to in generic terms, giving the production a mythic poetry. This is a story about the encounter of a non-specific “old man” with “a boy” who might be any young male traumatised at the hands of a violent patriarch.

The first act...