With the iconic Benjamin Law flavour of nostalgia, emotion, and absolute belly-laugh hilarity, 'Torch The Place' is the perfect depiction of family chaos with a uniquely South-East Queensland heart.
Originally premiering with Melbourne Theatre Company in 2020, 'Torch The Place' has taken its time finding its way to Brisbane, but we’re so glad it’s finally here, finally home. And while it's set on the Gold Coast, the references are deeply familiar to anyone living up and down the M1, the humour is hyper-local, and if you grew up here, you'll spend half the night nudging the person next to you.
Benjamin Law has brought the same wit, empathy and cultural insight that we’ve grown to love from his other work (some favourites include 'The Family Law' and 'Gaysia') to 'Torch The Place', a story inspired by his own family’s experiences with compulsive hoarding. He describes it as “sentimental to the point where it became pathological”, which came across so beautifully, and chaotically, in the show through the story, cast, set and atmosphere.
The cast for 'Torch The Place' was almost as flawless as the writing they brought to life on stage. Among them were three Queensland Theatre Company debuts, which you’d never be able to tell as the five of them created absolute magic together.
Easily stealing the show was Hsiao-Ling Tang, shuffling across the stage as Mum, and making us feel everything from longing and heartache, to deep compassion and understanding. Her erratic tendencies to turn everything into something beautiful (including, but not limited to, her broken toilet) carried such a beautiful narrative throughout the whole show. Perfectly depicting a migrant mother as she slipped between English, Cantonese and something in between, the audience hung off every word, captivated by her impeccable performance.
Representing every first-born, eldest-daughter in the audience, Denise Chan delivered a heartwrenching performance as Teresa – the daughter who was forced to grow up a little too early, who carried the responsibility of being the “second mother” in the family heavily while also struggling with her own fertility complications, who ached to bring peace to her chaotic family via skip bin. Chan’s delivery felt authentic, never forced, full of raw emotion and unapologetic humour.
Working beautifully alongside Chan as Teresa’s husband Paul, Peter Thurnwald thundered across the stage as the overly optimistic and deeply sensitive addition to the family that is all-too relatable. Marrying into a chaotically close-knit family comes with its challenges, which he highlighted and took on with the bubbly flair that only Thurnwald would be able to portray. Acting as the family’s peace-keeper, problem-solver, and the calm amongst the crazy, Thurnwald did an excellent job at capturing the hearts of everyone on stage and in the audience.
Alongside these three were the ever-endearing Kristie Nguy and Logan So, in their roles as Natalie and Toby respectively. Kristie owned the stage as the fun-loving, social-media-addicted influencer sister who was the familiar ‘gold child’ of the family that could do no wrong. She injected humour, compassion and personality into the family dynamic, making her an excellent addition to the cast. Toby carried some of the production's heaviest emotional baggage: identity, trauma, and the ache of feeling unseen by the person who was supposed to love him most. While So took a little time to find his footing in the role, as the show shifted into its more emotional gear, he absolutely thrived.
Walking into the Bille Brown Theatre, you were immediately transported into a nostalgic wonderland (not museum, because “a museum has order” as Teresa puts it bluntly early in the show), created by the ever-talented Jeremy Allen. Feeling every bit the working-class family home, the stage was a love letter to a very specific era – boxes of Princess Diana memorabilia, VCRs (yes, multiple) stacked high with tapes, an old radio exclusively belting out Celine Dion, and a mantle complete with family photos and trinkets from years gone by. The "a copy to read and a copy to keep" mindset was alive and well, and the iconic house slippers by the door will have anyone who grew up in a household like this doing a double take. It was chaotic, deliberately so, and yet every single item felt intentional and purposeful, full of memories that told the family's story before a single word was spoken.
The sound and lighting captured the feeling of the family and the house beautifully. Subtle yet powerful, the lights flickered and shifted from a dull yellowing to an eerie red, and even a full disco at one point, truly transporting the audience from lounge room to, well, everywhere else the family went, without ever leaving their seats. Together with Wil Hughes' sound design, Briana Clark's lighting was beautifully executed without ever missing a beat, taking the audience on a journey across a single-location stage, which is a skill only the best designers can pull off.
If you’ve ever walked into your parents' place, surrounded by memories, stories and. . . Crap, and quietly wondered whether their insurance covers arson, Benjamin Law has done an extraordinary job of bottling that feeling into a stage play that will make you want to hire a skip bin and give your parents a hug – possibly in that order.
A must-see, Brisbane-centric experience that is best enjoyed alongside siblings who truly understand that it might just be easier to, well, 'Torch The Place'.
★★★★☆ 1/2.
