The nearby industrial town has been abandoned, the guardians of the homestead have a loaded gun at the ready and the water supply has been shut off. Toilet paper is being rationed, Claus has not returned and the snakes are closing in on what little food remains. The situation is dire; hopes are all but dashed, so of course, it’s time for tea.

The cast of DRY, State Theatre Company South Australia. Photo © Alex Frayne

Catherine Fitzgerald writes and directs this dark, suspense-laden tale of endurance. Touted as a “dystopian absurdist Western”, this unusual genre lends itself completely to the hardships, despair and battles endured by those who ask of the land, the wrong questions.

We can all but smell the dust underfoot as sisters Patience (Eileen Darley) and Ellen (Caroline Mignone) gamble that the dry will break before the drought breaks them. The land is at its most unforgiving as they choose to fight against the competing forces of the things within their control and those that are not.

The siblings are well drawn, with a power imbalance recognisable in many familial relationships. Darley and...