★★★★.5 Theatre Now
★★★★ Stage Noise
wildly, crazily ambitious as the space race itself, and that it’s Stedman’s debut play heralds the arrival of a major talent…a remarkable debut. Recommended without hesitation Di Simmonds
This is big, bold, beautiful storytelling. And that it’s new Australian work is utterly exhilarating. Thank you Snatched Collective, White Box and KXT. Paul Gilchrist, Theatre Red
Madeleine has developed an exciting and complexly woven narrative and Director Kim Hardwick has expertly rendered the physical space to celebrate the investment. Sydney Arts Guide
I just don’t… I don’t like this dress. I just don’t see why I have to… to wear clothes like this to do a job where you pee in a suit.
Set in a semi-mythical 1960’s, Mercury Poisoning interweaves the stories of three women: Molly, a young American pilot who dreams of being the first woman in space; Valeria, a Soviet textile factory worker who, improbably, beats her to the mark; and Nicole, a Black singer and actress in Hollywood boldly going where no man has gone before.
Madeleine Stedman’s mammoth debut play - starting with the launch of Sputnik 1, spanning two continents and, of course, outer space, containing dozens of characters - is a true epic orbiting themes of progress, solidarity and moral licensing.
Director Kim Hardwick
with Shawnee Jones, Violette Ayad, Teodora Matovic, Anna Clark, Sarah Jane Starr, Charlotte Salusinszky, Melissa Jones, Tinashe Mangwana, Nikita Khromykh, Brendan Miles, Jack Richardson, Shaw Cameron
Production Design Meg Anderson; Lighting Design Jimi Rawlings; Sound Design Rowan Yeomans and Jay Rae