West Gate Review: Jaw-Dropping Staging Recounts Melbourne's Tragic Bridge Collapse
The Sumner theatre in Melbourne sets the stage for a production that feels perilous from the very first moments. In Dennis McIntosh's West Gate, the play hums with an unspoken dread as it builds towards a catastrophic climax, recounting the collapse of Melbourne's West Gate Bridge on 15 October 1970. This industrial accident, which killed 35 people and remains Australia's worst, is brought to life with a mix of raw emotion and technical brilliance, though the script occasionally falters in its execution.
A Tragedy Unfolding with Greek Inevitability
A royal commission once described the events leading to the bridge collapse as moving "with the inevitability of a Greek tragedy." McIntosh, who was an 11-year-old boy at the time, channels this lifelong fascination into a two-act structure. The collapse occurs at the midpoint, replacing an interval with a moment of sheer catastrophe and death. This architectural choice cleverly mirrors the actual cause of the accident: the failure of two bridge sections to seam properly, underscoring the play's thematic depth.
The opening scene immerses audiences in the working-class banter of 1970s industrial life, with a roll call that later becomes heartbreakingly repeated after the accident. Sparks fly as men rib each other, and fatal decisions are made in a vote on a stop-work motion that could have saved lives. McIntosh's ear for the vernacular of a migrant city shines through, with lines like "I just look young because I'm handsome" and "Don't be a fuckwit as well as a cunt" feeling instantly classic and authentic.
Strengths and Weaknesses in Character and Plot
However, the play struggles with certain elements. Scenes involving bickering executives—Stevenson (Paul Fletcher), Cooper (Ben Walter), and McAlister (Peter Houghton)—discussing contractual obligations and technical details quickly become turgid and repetitious. Despite strong performances, these characters often fall into class tropes and cardboard villainy. Similarly, the only female part, grieving widow Frankie (Daniela Farinacci), is designed as an icon of stoic migrant pride but lacks depth, while central characters Victor (Steve Bastoni) and Young Scrapper (Darcy Kent) are cobbled from clichés.
Yet, the performances are flawless and vital, filling in blanks left by the script. Bastoni radiates an earned and melancholy joy as an honest ironworker, while Farinacci is rigid with anger and buzzing with determination. Kent manages to suggest a heaving burden in his chest, and Simon Maiden and Rohan Nichol excel as rival union members, even when their parts edge into mawkishness.
Technical Marvel and Direction
Directed by Iain Sinclair, who reunites with much of the creative team from his 2019 production of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge, West Gate is a play of two halves. The lead-up to the tragedy hums with dread, and the aftermath slides mournfully into eulogy. However, the cataclysm at the centre of the story eclipses all, with staging that ranks among the most jaw-dropping the Sumner theatre has ever seen.
From the opening seconds, Niklas Pajanti's lighting rig and Kelly Ryall's disturbing sound design create a charged atmosphere. The stage, dominated by a monolithic concrete pylon designed by Christina Smith, feels dangerous. When the bridge collapse is unleashed with suggestive force, it feels like a rift in the natural order—a technically marvelous moment that leaves a lasting impact. After this, the play limps to a worthy but dull conclusion, with dust settling on the tragedy.
A Moving Tribute with Limitations
Sinclair directs with consummate ease, mastering blocking and dynamic placement within a tightly marshalled space. The production is a technical marvel, with Pajanti's angular lighting and Ryall's affective compositions conveying the chill and magnitude of that dreadful day. West Gate serves as a moving and respectful tribute to the lives lost, but McIntosh assumes a meaning for the disaster he never fully articulates. Characters rarely move beyond the obvious and sentimental, and the play lacks the outward resonance of a Greek tragedy, instead offering a diligent recounting of a tragic event.
In contrast to Arthur Miller's social conscience in A View from the Bridge, McIntosh's play seems dwarfed by the weight of his own fascination. Still, it delivers a mighty crash that audiences will not soon forget. Melbourne Theatre Company's production of West Gate runs at the Sumner theatre until 18 April, offering a powerful, if flawed, exploration of a pivotal moment in Melbourne's history.
