Irish playwright Mark O’Rowe play ‘Crestfall’, currently having a run at the Stables Theatre in Kings Cross, presents one dark, nightmarish world.

We find ourselves in a township in the shadow of The Bonelands, a filthy abattoir in which men are driven by their bestial urges and the women are around to provide the sex and the housekeeping! The playwright focuses on three women from this small township; Olive, a serial slag involved with most of the men in town, including the legendary pimp, Inchy Bassey, prostitute Tilly who is jealous of Olive’s intimacy with Bassey, and Allison, the mother of a brain damaged child and the wife of one of the many men that Olive sleeps with.

In ‘Crestfall’ each of the three women, respectively, tell their story of events that take place over a frenzied twenty four hour period that change their lives forever.

In your face, torrid, that’s my best way to describe the ‘Crestfall’ experience! This is no polite, middle class theatre with a cushy ride for the audience till curtain time and then off to dinner and chat, people were reacting strongly to what was happening on stage. Put it this way, it wasn’t Barry Kosky, but it was getting there!

At the helm, Shannon Murphy steers the whirlwind play’s (‘Crestfall’ runs 80 minutes straight through) course well to a powerful climax. The cast were excellent; Sarah Snook as Olive, Eliza Logan as Tilly, and Georgina Symes as Allison. The roles are very demanding emotionally. God only knows how they manage to ‘dive down there’ every night! Actors sure do deserve all the plaudits that come their way!

Rita Carmody’s apt costume design and minimalistic set, featuring one chair centre stage and some lights in the corners, worked effectively.

‘Crestfall’, a joint production of Griffin Independent and Bareboards, plays the Stables theatre, 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross until January 30.