Jasper Jones

Corrigan is a town with secrets. Local girl Laura Wishart is hanging from a tree beaten and bruised, Mad Jack Lionel is thought to have killed a woman 15 years ago and Indigenous teenager Jasper Jones has spent his life taking the fall for every indiscretion committed by the local kids who know they can drop Jones' name to take the heat off their own bad behaviour.

For a show aimed at a young adult audience there are some difficult themes raised in Kate Mulvany's adaptation of Craig Silvey's critically acclaimed book. But these difficult moments are dished up with plenty of pathos and a wry sense of humour in this beautifully staged piece of theatre. The exquisite set and haunting score effortlessly transports the audience to Corrigan as hot summer nights draw 1965 to a sorrowful close and the town's secrets are stripped bare.

Tom Conroy as narrator Charlie Bucktin and Guy Simon as Jones completely inhabit their teenage characters. It's just a shame that the characters most affected by Corrigan's secrets don't get to tell their own stories.