So far, so unexceptional – but right from the start Jacobs-Jenkins makes us aware that the play contains another important ingredient: place. The play begins with the sound of cicadas; they drone on for what seems like an inordinately long time. In the opening scene, we learn of the two graveyards on the property – one for the family, the other for the slaves – and of the lake that plays its part to mordant effect late in the play. And then there is the house, like Prospero’s island ‘full of noises’ but not ones that ‘bring delight’. As the family sifts through Ray’s hoarded belongings, the house reveals secrets that fill them with a mixture of horror and denial. The Lafayette siblings may have left the house, but it is one that will never leave them. The final scenes, staged by the Sydney Theatre Company with technical adroitness, hint that the torturous history of the South might at last be fading, but we know that two of the younger members of the family are carrying with them spores that could keep the past alive.

Brenna Harding and Johnny Carr in Appropriate (photograph by Prudence Upton)

Not to mince words, STC’s production of this challenging play is a triumph. Director Wesley Enoch has moulded his talented cast into a superb ensemble. Although on paper the characters seem standard fare, Jacobs-Jenkins gives them layers the actors can burrow into. Normally one would pick out a couple of actors for mention, but in this case they all need to be saluted.

As Ainsley, Robbi Morgan races around to irritating effect like one of Tennessee Williams’s no-neck monsters, but in typical Jacobs-Jenkins fashion he is given a chilling, heartbreaking moment, which Morgan pulls off with aplomb. Ella Jacob’s Cassidy is a hilarious mixture of a teenager’s intelligence, self-obsession, and insecurity. James Fraser’s wary Rhys attempts with little success to keep his family at bay. He and Johnny Carr (Franz) are very funny in a scene of sexual misunderstanding. Brenna Harding subtly reveals to us that the supposedly ditzy River is in fact the most morally centred person in the play. Lucy Bell proves that under Rachael’s uptight exterior there is a fighter every bit as lethal as the Lafayette siblings.

As for the siblings themselves, Carr’s hyperactive Franz is a mixture of shame and atonement. He is given a gift of a speech towards the end of the play, which he builds to its inevitable conclusion with a hyperactive elation that caused the audience to give him a round of applause. Bo is perhaps the most conventional character; Sam Worthington rather underplays him at the beginning, but he grows in depth throughout.

The nearest thing the family has as a matriarch, Mandy McElhinney’s Toni, takes no prisoners. As any good actress in a southern Gothic piece must be, she is a complete mistress of a staircase. Whether descending it menacingly, stumbling up it drunkenly, or, in her final scene, simply standing still, radiating a heartbreakingly damaged authority, she plays those steps like Alfred Brendel plays the keyboard.

In a piece that depends on atmosphere as much as words, Elizabeth Gadsby’s design, Trent Suidgeest’s lighting, and Steve Francis’s sound contribute enormously to its success. Nigel Poulton choreographs a fight scene brilliantly.

In Appropriate, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins shows us that if we cannot escape our history, we must learn to live with it. A lesson we are still coming to terms with in this country.

Appropriate (Sydney Theatre Company) is showing at the Roslyn Packer Theatre from 15 March to 10 April 2021. Performance attended: March 24.

This project is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.