“So we have a young girl developing and we have that mapped on to a story about Sydney undergoing change and transformation over this 100-or-so-year period of time that the novel essentially maps. Like much of Park’s work, including her Harp in the South trilogy that Mulvany adapted for STC in 2018, Playing Beatie Bow is full of Big Female Energy - Abigail is angry and confused at the state of her parents’ relationship, while Beatie is frustrated at her place in the world. These two girls have found each other in completely ridiculous, mysterious circumstances and they love each other for who they are.”įor the uninitiated, Playing Beatie Bow is Ruth Park’s classic time-travel novel that’s been a staple of high school curriculums since it was published in 1980. Nolan agrees: “It’s a love story about friendship. “They’re like magnets who are brought together and they’re like fireworks, so there’s aggression, there’s a lot of fire between them but that fire is because they connect so much.” “They’re drawn to each other,” says Van-Davies, who has had a stellar couple of years on stage ( No Pay? No Way!) and TV ( Hungry Ghosts).

It’s this chemistry that taps into their characters: Van-Davies plays Abigail Kirk, the modern-day teenage heroine to Nolan’s feisty time-travelling 11-year-old from 1873. They have a lively rapport - enthusing about co-star Heather Mitchell’s cake-baking skills and dance prowess of young co-star Ryan Yeates. Today, the pair are fresh from a morning of rehearsal at STC’s newly refurbished Wharf theatres, having just run through the play’s second act in full for the first time. Adds Nolan, drily: “I think we did all right.”

Playing beatie bow by ruth park