Arts Review: Sad Digger Mad Mary
Digger, a shell-shocked soldier, sent back from the war for reasons which become clearer as the story progresses, lives hermit-style in a gum leaf shanty in the Australian bush with his little mate Bluey (expertly played by a toy dog on a skateboard), trying to escape the war, his personal persecution and memories which haunt him about a man he once loved. Before going into this one-man show, you’d be forgiven for thinking it might just contain some pretty heavy content, but then suddenly, the story takes a colorful, unexpected twist in the way that all fringe theatre productions do. Enter Mary Poppins, a character dreamed up by Digger’s tormented madness, to save him from himself. But a Mary Poppins interpreted as you’ve never seen her before… meaner, nastier, shinier, better, more interesting, hilarious. Through Mary’s tough-love guidance, inter-space and time travel, Digger is able to finally find his true self, and free himself from the shackles imposed by an earlier time, emerging as a strong, proud individual Sad Digger Mad Mary is weird, but …




