Review: LACRIMA at Heath Ledger Theatre

LACRIMA at Heath Ledger Theatre
Saturday, February 7, 2026

As the pièce de résistance of Perth Festival’s theatre program (and perhaps the entire 2026 program), LACRIMA left a dazzling impression across its brief run.

The French drama from Théâtre national de Strasbourg came with subtitles, multimedia, high drama and breakneck pacing, more akin to epic cinema than any stage show seen in Perth recently.

Taking on the high-end world of Parisian Haute Couture, the English subtitles represented several languages as international fashion houses in Normandy and Mumbai matched specialities and techniques with those of the Paris base, the central plot there revolving around a wedding dress commissioned for an unnamed British princess.

All three houses were variously present across the elaborately designed set, from the lacemaking in Normandy to the embroidery of Mumbai, but this was also where the multimedia shone. Utilising characters speaking to one another via interpreters and in different countries across the big screen back of stage, oftentimes we were witness to a global Zoom or Teams call, ratcheting up the pressure in different time zones as incredible use of music and sound design milked the tension.

Putting the artistry to one side for a second, this is where the drama took over. And it was riveting stuff as livelihoods (and lives) were literally on the line. From fractious marriages to inter-family mental illnesses, the intricacies of personal relationships were laid bare, and the impossibility of work-life balance under such intense pressure leant into obsession.

Perhaps it was the subtitles or simply the sublime acting all round, but the impressively fast pace of writer-director Caroline Guiela Nguyen’s epic made this three-hour ‘binge’ worth strapping in for. Despite a three-minute pause (no intermission!), for the most part this was all go, and impossible to turn away from.

It’s important to have access to such cutting-edge art as part of our own international festival, and LACRIMA will no doubt live long in the minds of local producers and writers as well as audiences, buoyed by the potential of what live theatre can still offer in a world of multimedia and excess, all via the power of performance.

HARVEY RAE