The Toorak Rules

Following the success of Monash in Love, and War at Chapel off Chapel, the second play by Andrew Joseph, The Toorak Rules, opens at St Martins on November 13, through to November 24. Directed by Sarah Grenfell, and starring Anita Torrance and Alec Gilbert.

For those of you who recall the years 1958/1962, much of the content of this play will strike a chord.
And for those who don’t, come and see how things were in Toorak when the Catholic/Protestant divide was at centre stage, when marriage was unquestionably first and foremost in the minds of most young women, and “political correctness” meant only that you voted for a conservative party!

In those days, everything was as black and white as the images on the TV screens. Nonetheless, there were some signs of the radical social changes that were to occur in the mid 1960s, and beyond.

In many senses, 1950s senior Melbournians seemed to look back, rather than forward. “The War” (WW2) and the Great Depression still exerted a powerful influence on the older generation who had lived through them.

"In this play, love, conflict, and loyalty across two generations are all examined against the background of Catholic/Protestant sectarianism."