History and Heartbreak: BERLIN Returns to Captivate Melbourne

It’s rare for a play to juggle passion, historical scars, and the promise of redemption all at once. Yet Joanna Murray-Smith’s BERLIN manages exactly that—and now, following a sell-out run in 2023, the romantic thriller is set to return to Melbourne for a strictly limited engagement. Beginning on 27 February 2025 at the Meat Market North Melbourne, the production promises a 90-minute rollercoaster of suspense, tenderness, and revelation. Under the direction of Erica Chestnut, stars Georgia Latchford and Lachlan Hamill go head-to-head in an unforgettable theatrical battle that asks: can love survive the unforgiving weight of history?

A Triumphant Homecoming

When BERLIN first graced Melbourne stages in 2023, no one—least of all its creative team—could have predicted the depth of audience reaction. People walked away shaken, moved, and very much convinced of the play’s resonant power. That initial success has paved the way for a second run, this time at the heritage Meat Market in North Melbourne, an atmospheric venue that seems tailor-made for a story about buried secrets and midnight encounters.

Lachlan Hamill, both performer and producer for Little Life Productions, captures the general sentiment: “When we staged the show in 2023 we never could have imagined the emotional responses we received from our audiences.” Indeed, for many, the memory of that earlier run lingers—a testament to how a well-crafted, intimate piece of theatre can burrow under your skin. Now, with BERLIN poised to enthral viewers once more, curiosity is at an all-time high.

A Night of Intense Encounters

Set in a Berlin that crackles with possibility, the play follows two strangers who meet by chance in a local bar. Tom, an Australian travelling abroad, forms an instant connection with Charlotte, a Berlin native who seems to carry both the city’s vibrancy and its darker undertones. Their initial flirtation might seem like a standard boy-meets-girl scenario, but as the night deepens, so do the unspoken tensions. Bit by bit, long-concealed truths bubble to the surface.

Joanna Murray-Smith’s script deftly balances the euphoria of new romance with the gravity of personal and collective histories. The magnetic interplay between Tom and Charlotte unfolds like a waltz—sometimes playful, sometimes confrontational, but always underpinned by the question: what if everything you assume about someone can’t hold up under the glare of real history? The result is a high-stakes journey that keeps the audience guessing about which skeletons will emerge from which closets.

The Creative Minds Behind the Scenes

This new staging is helmed by Erica Chestnut, a director whose knack for intimate, character-focused work makes her the ideal shepherd for such a taut, two-person play. Under her guidance, the layered interplay between Tom and Charlotte transforms from mere flirtation into an examination of guilt, love, and moral quandaries.

Backing Chestnut is a creative team determined to maintain the raw intensity that made the 2023 run so compelling. In leading roles, Georgia Latchford and Lachlan Hamill share a chemistry that theatregoers found riveting. The synergy of their performances doesn’t just rest on well-rehearsed lines, but on a mutual trust—one that allows for the unexpected in every show. As a result, no two performances of BERLIN will be precisely alike; each night, subtle differences in timing or reaction can shift the emotional centre of the piece.

Minimalist Intimacy

In an age of large-scale musicals and multimedia extravaganzas, BERLIN stands out for its minimalist approach. Just two actors drive the action, supported by little more than atmospheric lighting and carefully chosen set pieces. That sense of intimacy intensifies the emotional stakes; with no ensemble chorus or scene changes to distract us, each shift in mood or gesture becomes monumental.

Critics and theatregoers from the 2023 run noted how the spartan stage design left ample room for the actors’ performances to breathe. Without intermission, you’re locked into Tom and Charlotte’s world, with no reprieve from the simmering tension. It’s an experience reminiscent of chamber theatre, where the closeness of the space and the immediacy of the drama can feel almost intrusive in the best way possible.

What is it about BERLIN that makes it so universally gripping? Part of the answer lies in its historical echoes. While the story is contemporary—a romantic entanglement in modern Berlin—the city itself bears the weight of a 20th century filled with deep scars: war, division, and rebuilding. Characters living in Berlin can’t easily avoid confronting the city’s ghosts; the tension is as tangible as the architecture that still shows traces of conflict.

For an Australian audience, the play also offers a window into how one’s national identity might collide with a history that isn’t entirely one’s own. Tom, the foreigner in this scenario, finds himself drawn into Charlotte’s personal complexities—her family’s past, her city’s collective memory. It challenges us to consider how love can straddle cultural divides while also forcing lovers to deal with narratives that can feel impossibly weighty. If the personal truly is political, then BERLIN is the perfect stage to explore where those domains meet.

The Legacy of Joanna Murray-Smith

The brilliance of the text stems from Joanna Murray-Smith, one of Australia’s most celebrated playwrights. Throughout her extensive catalogue, she has displayed an enviable talent for merging wit, social commentary, and emotional depth. Plays like Honour and Fury have similarly wrestled with uncomfortable truths that lie beneath the veneer of polite conversation. BERLIN, however, stands out for its international flair—its examination of cultural identity in a city that symbolises both unity and division, belonging and estrangement.

Murray-Smith’s works have been staged worldwide, receiving acclaim for their incisive portrayals of human relationships in flux. With BERLIN, she offers a plot that’s partly a love story, partly a moral labyrinth. The text never quite gives the audience the comfort of total clarity, leaving enough ambiguity that each viewer can walk away pondering how the weight of history might shape their own relationships.

Melbourne’s Meat Market: A Historic Setting

The choice to mount BERLIN at Meat Market North Melbourne further enriches the production’s atmosphere. Built in the 1880s, the venue’s heritage charm contrasts with the modern edges of the play, providing a unique backdrop to a drama steeped in the complexities of a city far away. In a sense, it’s a neat parallel: just as Berlin’s architecture stands as a testament to multiple eras layered over each other, Meat Market’s storied walls remind us of Melbourne’s own layered past.

For local theatre enthusiasts, the spot is also known for hosting cutting-edge works that deviate from mainstream commercial offerings. If you fancy the idea of a site-specific feel that merges old-world architecture with contemporary theatre, you may find this production particularly compelling.

The Heart of the Matter

At its core, BERLIN dares to ask: how can two people move forward in love when the shadows of historical tragedy loom so large? This question resonates far beyond the stage, speaking to broader issues of social responsibility, inherited guilt, and the power of human connection. In an era where globalisation frequently tosses together individuals from disparate backgrounds, the question of “Whose history matters?” becomes ever more vital.

Ultimately, the tension in BERLIN stems not just from personal secrets but from the broader historical narrative that envelops them. Perhaps the show’s greatest achievement lies in how it personalises massive socio-political forces, demonstrating that the lines between the private and the political are never as clear-cut as we might believe. What better way to explore that than through a romantic thriller, where the stakes are quite literally life and love?

A Must-See Romantic Thriller

Whether you’re an aficionado of Joanna Murray-Smith’s work, a fan of intimate, high-stakes drama, or simply curious about the theatre’s unique ability to meld love and history, BERLIN has all the makings of an unforgettable night out. From its all-too-human characters to its evocative setting, the play reminds us that the past is never fully behind us—and that sometimes, the people who step into our lives bring hidden stories capable of uprooting everything we think we know.

So if you’re in Melbourne come late February, consider this your invitation to experience BERLIN at Meat Market North Melbourne. Ninety minutes, two actors, and one extraordinary text: the sum of these parts promises a theatre event that might just linger with you long after the final curtain. After all, a truly great play doesn’t merely entertain—it asks you to see the world differently. And for that, we can thank Joanna Murray-Smith, Little Life Productions, and a fearless cast determined to prove that love, identity, and history can converge to form something utterly exhilarating.

Tickets available at BerlinPlay.com.au