There’s a mumps outbreak at Eureka Day, a hippy private primary school in California. When one child gets seriously sick, the parents form a rift, with some threatening to leave if vaccinations don’t become mandatory, and others threatening to leave if they do. Conflict-averse principal Don (Jamie Oxenbould) urgently calls the Eureka Day Executive parent committee to action, to discuss whether to revise the school’s laissez-faire vaccine policy. Over a tight 100 minutes, the committee conducts a series of crisis meetings, as the parents (played by Katrina Retallick, Deborah An, Christian Charisiou, and Branden Christine) try to save the school without hurting anyone’s feelings. 

Jonathan Spector’s school satire about balancing personal freedoms with public responsibility was, remarkably, written in 2018. While it’s clear to see the context of Trump era political polarisation, science denialism, and a responsive push towards social justice from left-wing communities, it’s a real shock at just how prescient the play becomes in a post-covid era. It’s impossible to watch this play in Sydney and not feel the heavy shadow of the 2020-2021 lockdowns. Walking into the Seymour Centre’s Reginald Theatre, I was unsure if audiences were ready for a play about vaccines and how we talk about them. But while some will undoubtably brace at the subject matter, I found Eureka Day to be a surprising crowd-pleaser which doesn’t take itself too seriously. 

Outhouse Theatre Co (led by Baldwin and Jeremy Waters) has a consistent track record of selecting topical international playwriting to bring to Sydney in accomplished productions, and this is no exception. The Broadway production of Eureka Day won the Drama Desk awards for Best Revival only this week, and this Sydney production, directed by Craig Baldwin, is one of the most entertaining shows of the year so far. 

The highlight of the play is an extended sequence on Facebook live, where technologically inept Don tries to host a virtual town hall to discuss the outbreak, but is derailed by parents squabbling in the chat. Video of the meeting is projected above the actor’s heads, including live-chat from the off-stage parents. It’s a technically demanding but very funny sequence that Baldwin directs with gusto, aided by accomplished design work from Aron Murray (Lighting and Video) and Kate Beere (Set and Costume). In Baldwin’s direction, the constant pinging of the bickering group chat, ends up drowning out whatever Don was trying to say, which felt like a particularly apt metaphor for how everyone these days wants to talk, and no one wants to listen.

Spector has written these characters in fine detail, and balanced satirical tone with a grounding in emotional truth so that they all feel like real people. Although the five characters are all posh and generally left-wing, their opinions on vaccines vary widely, leading to a spike and entertaining back and forth as everyone politely (and then not-so-politely) expresses their thoughts. It’s the contradictions which make Spector’s characters so effective, and Eureka Day is at its best when you can’t fully decide which character to side with. Correspondingly, and despite Christine’s grounded performance, I felt the script lost nuance when it focused on Carina, the new arrival to the school, who was almost too reasonable and level-headed compared to her committee counterparts. 

There is also a moment near the end of the play, when it is revealed that one of the strident anti-vax characters previously had a tragic family experience which shaped their skepticism. While this moment did add emotional heft to the show’s otherwise broadly comedic tone, it felt like a slightly cowardly attempt by Spector to redeem a frustrating character. For a play that’s all about accepting the reality of people’s opinions, no matter how unreasonable they seem, it would have been the bolder choice to forgo the sympathetic backstory. 

Overall, Eureka Day is a witty and sharply directed satire, performed by a talented comedic ensemble. How much you enjoy it is likely to be dictated by: 1. Whether you’re ready for a vaccine comedy post-covid, and 2. How much you enjoy drama that makes fun of ‘social justice warriors’. Although at times the identity politics humour can be a bit on the nose, it’s more eye-rollingly cringe than outright offensive. Baldwin’s production has wide appeal, and works on a number of level. It can be read as a comedy about covid, about ‘woke’ culture, and also just a workplace comedy about conflict, and how attempts to avoid it can sometimes backfire in our faces. 

Jo Bradley