First it must be said that the cast, led by a riveting Jane Phegan, and directed by Kim Hardwick, makes the very best of Before The Meeting, a 2019 play by Canadian-born, US-domiciled Adam Bock. Second, it must be asked: why?

As in, why choose this work from all those available from among the hundreds that would come closer to fulfilling White Box Theatre’s mission statement: “[our] long-term vision is to continually support Australian writers, particularly emerging, to produce stories about the community in which we live and to envision that community in a global context.”

Tim Walker and Tim McGarry in Before the Meeting, May 2022. Photo © Danielle Lyonne.

Played out in an urban church basement (picturesquely scabby and institutionally dreary setting by Martin Kinnane) the action takes place over some days and during the brief time before an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting takes place, when the regulars foregather to set up the room, bicker, and generally make themselves known to the audience.

Gail (Phegan) is the self-appointed matriarch, a 17-year veteran of sobriety whose tragic background is gradually...