Ruby Moon | Ad Astra
Directed by Susan O’Toole-Cridland, Ruby Moon is a haunting journey that delves into the mythology of missing children. Written by Matt Cameron in 2003, it’s a play that combines multiple genres including gothic horror, black comedy, surrealism, and mystery to create a compelling story that explores the psyche of the parents of a missing child and the impact it can have during the grieving process.
Ruby Moon is set in the fictional town of Flaming Tree Grove. On the surface it might appear as a picturesque suburban street, and although it’s not a real place, it brought back memories of growing up in rural Australia especially around having that false sense of security, the paranoia around the town when something happens to break the trust and how certain people in our neighbourhoods would get defined due to how our town perceived them.
Image credit including cover: Christopher Sharman Photography
The set immediately stood out to me as we entered the intimate Ad Astra. You could tell a lot of care and attention went into the design and costumes which added a lot to the immersion and complimented the story well.
Imagery is a big part of Ruby Moon whether it’s in the dialogue, the metaphors, or the set itself. An integral part of the story is the use of a doll and a childlike mannequin both resembling Ruby, with the mannequin probably going to be turning up in my nightmares eventually as I could’ve sworn it was looking at me! Other elements such as the photographs on the set, the colour red and the use of an instrumental version of Gary Jules’ cover of Mad World added to the atmosphere.
For Ruby Moon to be a success though it needs strong actors. And we get that with Gary Farmer-Trickett playing Ray Moon and Sandra Harman as his wife, Silvie Moon. Gary and Sandra are experienced performers and were fantastic in their roles. It’s evident how good they are when they play various characters throughout the performance and transition from scene to scene bringing a uniqueness to each one with a range from drama to comedy.
If I had to describe the show to someone who hasn’t seen it, I’d say it reminded me of David Lynch and Twin Peaks in the way it’s able use dark humour and quirky characters to explore some very heavy themes with an absurdist approach. It also has a lot of fairy-tale elements, in particular Little Red Riding Hood which it heavily references.
Ruby Moon is an important work and was inspired by the headlines of missing children in the past. When we think of the tragic news of Daniel Morcombe and William Tyrell, and how today we live in a world where media plays such a big role in our lives that when a story like that happens it becomes almost unavoidable to not get caught up in the anxiety or feel the grief of their family. I think it does a great job at exploring the corruption of innocence and how our perceptions can drastically change after such incidents.
Image credit: Christopher Sharman Photography
It is a very confronting show that delves into themes and discussions that can be triggering and that should be something to be aware of when going to see it, but they do warn us before the show begins which I appreciated.
This was my first time seeing an adaption of Ruby Moon and I don’t know much about the original story, so I went into it not knowing what it was going to be about. I was pleasantly surprised, and as a fan of psychological horror, I ended up really enjoying Susan O’Toole-Cridland’s take on it and would highly recommend it to anyone that is either a fan of past Ruby Moon productions or looking for a performance that plays with surrealism to deliver a strong message.
