SUTCo’s adaptation of the 1989 classic Dead Poets Society was a heartfelt piece of brotherhood, passion and poetry. Having never seen the original, I was excited to watch Phoebe Cookson and Max Preston’s take on the piece with no pretensions about keeping to the source material.
The pair (with Cookson as director) take the audience on an immediately emotional journey full of poetic effusions and heart-breaking familial turbulence. The play focuses on a group of seven boys at an authoritarian boarding school who upon meeting their new teacher Mr Keating find a new lease of life by resurrecting his Dead Poets Society. Keating’s dialogue was great, engaging and profound, his influential nature was well-established, bolstered by a strong performance by Yugesh Kannan.
The set was ambitious and layered with many period appropriate props such as leather trunks, dial phones and Persian carpets. At times the momentum of the play felt halted by the amount of set movement as the large cast required chairs coming on and off at regular intervals and this somewhat interfered with the pacing, but perhaps this was first night jitters. I liked the direction of the cast being in conversation with each other while moving around the set pieces/chairs as well as the ASMs being in period dress, this aided the tricky task of moving furniture about in a more naturalistic manner.
The stand-out performance for me was Will Dunn as Todd Anderson. As the co-protagonist carrying a large amount of the plot and emotional weight, Dunn is extraordinary. Anderson’s reserved, anxious nature is expertly portrayed through Dunn’s body-language and micro expressions. Todd’s evolution throughout the play is a tricky, layered one as the repressed emotions regarding his self-worth and family come simmering to the surface, culminating in the untimely death of his closest friend. Dunn’s crying out for ‘Neil’ to an empty, desolate stage actually made me shiver; it was so guttural and devastating. Equally, Poppy Taylor as Neil Perry’s abusive, militaristic father and Roberto Rowinski as rebellious Charlie Dalton both give exceptional performances; Taylor is genuinely frightening as Mr Perry while Rowinski gives depth to what could have been a one-note character. Well done all!
SUTCo’s adaptation is jam-packed with mirth, tragedy and academia, there’s something for everyone. Go see Dead Poets Society running from 4/12/25-6/12/25 at the Drama Studio, Carpe Diem!
Dead Poets Society – Performance Venues
Rating: ★★★
