Epicaricacy Review

A piercing study of a friendship breakup, with gaslighting at its core

Initially developed at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Claire Collective Company has debuted Epicaricacy at this year's Sydney Fringe Festival. Written, produced and featuring Samantha Dewar, and directed by Shakira Cheers, the story follows a trio of friends — Savannah (Samantha Dewar), Leah (Caitlin Green) and Addy (Ruby Cullinan) — navigating peer pressure, substance use, sexual harassment and violence, and manipulation while in their early twenties trying to figure out who they are. This trio gets interrupted by the presence of one Guy, played by Jago Field.

Reviewed by Valerie Chidiac.

We are introduced to these characters as Savannah comes in and sits on the stool, with the other three standing around her. From the first moment, the audience is hooked by an air of mystery amplified by strobe lighting and dynamic sound design.

The latter incorporates core party music like 'Hotel Room Service' by Pitbull and 'Tik Tok' by Kesha, alongside audio memories of the trio that give us a sense of the history between the three girls.

Then we witness a snippet of the final showdown before jumping back to when the trio — Savannah, Leah and Addy — were at the peak of their friendship and partying days. It is at a house party hosted by Guy that shit hits the fan, and long-simmering tensions surface.

You can sense the chemistry between the three actresses; I immediately believed these are close friends and have been for a while. I would have liked to see more of their dynamic before Guy enters, just to show how good he was at worming his way in and playing on their grievances with one another.

A lesson in gaslighting

Epicaricacy is a lesson in gaslighting and blaming each other. Guy initiates a kiss with Savannah on multiple occasions, but pulls a DARVO tactic and says Savannah tried to kiss him — all the while he is kissing and asking Addy out. His real goal is to get with Savannah.

The staging and blocking is to be commended. I could tell it was directed by an actor-director in Shakira Cheers, because all sides of the stage were used. There was natural movement, and it did not get in the way of the back-and-forth dialogue that is the defining quality of the show.

Each character gets one opportunity to explain their perspective by directly addressing the audience, filling us in on their inner dynamics. We get the chance to unpack their truth, and decide who we align with more.

My interpretation is that while it initially appeared Leah wrongly assumed Guy liked Addy and encouraged him to make a move on her, this was the first sign that things were going wrong. Savannah is portrayed as pushy when it comes to Leah and Addy, but to me it seemed that Leah was overprotective of Addy, didn't like Savannah, and jumped on this opportunity to end the friendship.

Leah, like Savannah, has a strong personality — she likes to call the shots and say things for what they are. Caitlin Green delivers this with such ease and power that I wanted to flinch when she called her best friend a whore and told her to stand up while she was talking to her. You could sense her total frustration with the state of their friendship, even if that led to questionable choices.

Savannah is more boisterous, and Samantha's performance aptly gives main character energy. I never felt she was a two-dimensional depiction of the confident party girl feeling herself and wanting to have fun. In fact, Epicaricacy touches on how someone like her is easier to villainise, because it fits a stereotypical narrative of a drunk and silly partygoer facing the music the next day. No one wants to interrogate that multiple truths can exist at the same time — that she wasn't asking for it when she was not fully in command of her senses.

The standout: Addy

Addy is a less loud and abrasive character, but to me she was the standout performance, thanks to Ruby Cullinan's subtle delivery of the emotional beats that punctuate the story. Cullinan avoided making Addy the butt of the joke or the friend who is easily manipulated. The audience could see her moments of hesitation, even as she ends up siding with Leah and Guy.

Addy idolises Savannah and wants to be her. It is all about visibility and feeling seen. But she recognises this has come at the expense of her quieter demeanour, and that she has been treated as overly naive. She decides to side with Leah, almost exchanging her awe of Savannah for the approval of Leah. I wonder if that friendship lasted afterward.

I felt very strongly about Guy, played to perfection by Jago Field. He is slimy, sleazy and awful — nothing but a guy who sees the world in terms of what he can take, not give. He says things like "it happens, you shoot, you don't score" and that you can't expect him not to act on something if the person opposite him "flaunted herself".

The show centres the friendship

One of the most interesting choices in this play is how Savannah is depicted across the story. She is always present in the scene — whether by being mentioned, asleep in the corner, or partying in another room. Her presence and momentary absences loom over the characters like a shadow. She is both what connects them and what divides them.

Savannah is ultimately not a participant in the conversation but the subject of gossip, and she is forced to grapple with this at the end. While I would have liked to see Savannah's behaviour after the final scene, the abrupt conclusion feels realistic when it comes to long-lasting friendships unravelling on the spot and everyone having to move on quickly.

Because Savannah has hooked up with many people, that becomes a mark against her — one that is frustrating to watch, especially as Guy is left off the hook. This is not a criticism of the script, because it shows what happens in real life. He was two-faced, and enjoyed playing with and punishing Savannah. In the process, he hurt more than one person.

As such, Epicaricacy doesn't centre Guy nor any one of the girls. The show centres the friendship. The main character is the trio, and Guy is such a destabilising force that he can do damage even when he's not in a scene.

By the time we arrive back at the scene we started with, we the audience are just as exhausted as silent witnesses to a friendship that has taken a very wrong turn. I'm so glad this play was produced, because we need to explore how heartbreaking friendship breakups are within storytelling.

They happen the most in our lives, and deserve the spotlight as much if not more than romantic relationships. I did not experience epicaricacy while watching this, but I did experience a story that made me want to re-examine friendships and why they evolved or devolved the way they did.

Epicaricacy — a Claire Collective Company production, written by and starring Samantha Dewar and directed by Shakira Cheers. The Actors Pulse Playhouse, Sydney Fringe Festival 2026. Seen 11 September 2026.

Director and Stage Manager: Shakira Cheers
Assistant Director: Teejay Woods
Producer and Writer: Samantha Dewar
Lighting Designer and Operator: Holly Nesbitt
Savannah: Samantha Dewar
Leah: Caitlin Green
Addy: Ruby Cullinan
Guy: Jago Field

Reviewed by Valerie Chidiac.