Ever intriguing boutique musical Grey Gardens makes a very welcome Melbourne return in this insightfully directed, splendidly cast new production. 

2006 Broadway musical Grey Gardens had its memorable Melbourne premiere from The Production Company in 2011. For this revival, the most ambitious staging to date from Clovelly Fox Productions, Grey Gardens is perfectly housed at the fortyfivedownstairs theatre, where the chipped, stained paintwork evocatively adds to the recreation of crumbling Long Island estate Grey Gardens. 

With act two based on the cult classic 1976 documentary Grey Gardens, book writer Doug Wright has concocted an eventful summer afternoon thirty years earlier to round out the musical with a satisfying first act. Interest in the fabled Kennedy clan is high in 2026, with John Kennedy Jr romance Love Story airing recently and Netflix series Kennedy well into production. 

Act one sees Grey Gardens all abuzz with final preparations for that evening’s engagement party for Edith Bouvier Beale (Little Edie) and Joseph Kennedy Jr. As usual, matriarch Big Edie is set to derail proceedings with a set of racially and artistically inappropriate songs that no one wants or needs to hear. Signs of Big Edie’s controlling cruelty emerge as she deliberately exposes past scandals to deter Joe Kennedy from going through with the pairing, 

Some 32 years later, mother and daughter are living in abject squalor, the glory days of Grey Gardens a distant memory. 

The intimate performance space greatly boosts the connection between audience and characters, the highly personal story told with unflinching humanity. Eschewing potential camp indulgences, director Tyran Parke leans strongly into the pathos of the pitiful pair, exposing the plight of Little Edie and Big Edie as a moving tragedy. Laughs bring a welcome break to the tension but the overall focus is serious and the production is all the stronger for it. 

Parke brings out evenly strong performances from the cast of nine, with the mannered world of the 1940s brought vividly to life in act one before the compelling drama of act two. Vocals are also at a premium, with the equally exacting preparation of musical director Lyndall Dawson paying handsome dividends. Full credit to Dawson also for accompanying the performance on electric piano with such a deft touch that the full orchestrations are not missed. 

Parke makes excellent use of the wide performance space, with spirited, period-appropriate  movement coming from choreographer Freya List. Set designer Claudia Mirabello simply adds characterful furniture to the existing space, neatly allowing a smooth flow of scenes about the titular estate. Costume designer Louisa Fitzgerald has fun with Little Edie’s outlandish stylings in act two, with plenty of elegant polish seen in the summer party of act one. The atmospheric staging is completed with the carefully considered lighting design of Sidney Younger.

The dual roles of Big Edie (in act one) and Little Edie (in act two) are a plum showcase for an actress, and Helen Dallimore brilliantly places her own personal stamp on the pair. Big Edie’s simmering tension bubbles just below the surface in act one, the dotty, doting mother’s fear of imminent loneliness a clear motivator. Dallimore truly shines in act two, embracing Little Edie’s mania so absolutely that it is simply seen as an inexorable personality trait. Dallimore scores laughs but does not seek them, focusing solely on the searing emotional truth of the utterly compelling character. 

Deidre Rubenstein delights as the cantankerous Big Edie of act two, an aged woman now running the house from the her bed through sheer force of will. Rubenstein does not shy from Big Edie’s cruelty towards her daughter, adroitly underpinning this with moments of aching vulnerability. Rubenstein and Dallimore enjoy strong chemistry and their extended shouting match is a particular highlight.

Luxury casting continues through the supporting cast. David Hobson deftly conveys a lifetime of military discipline in Major Bouvier, unforgiving father of Big Edie. Hobson later takes flight as spirited gospel singer Norman Vincent Peale, heard on the radio (whilst seen on stage) in act two.

Nick Simpson-Deeks brings a wicked slyness to Big Edie’s sycophantic pianist and composer/arranger George Gould Strong. Luke Ward embodies blue blood breeding as Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr., later presenting a sharply striking change of character, with the simple addition of a curly wig, as local youth Jerry. Evan Evans brings quiet dignity, with a touch of sprightly personality, to two generations of staff as Brooks Sr. and Jr.

As the younger incarnation of Little Edie, Meg Williams colours her polished presentation with an ever-present undercurrent of fragility and despair. 

Adeline Hunter brings a charming grace to fun-loving cousin Jacqueline Bouvier. At this performance, Jessica Georgeson was captivatingly charming and funny as little Lee Bouvier.

Should any tickets remain for this all too short season, attendance is highly recommended at Grey Gardens. 

Grey Gardens plays at fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne until 2 August 2026. For tickets, click here.

Photos: Ben Fon