Boys Will Be Boys cast Lucinda Hare (left), Jodie Rimmer, Amanda Billing, Jennifer Ludlam and Vanessa Kumar. Picture / Supplied
With a title that sounds uncomfortably close to the excuses offered up for the Chiefs' "Mad Monday" incident, Boys Will Be Boys delivers a searing indictment of how workplace culture can enable and support sexual violence.
The play brings a rigorously feminist perspective to the male-dominated world of high finance.
While movies like The Wolf of Wall Street tread a fine line between glamourising and satirising the alluring lifestyles of the rich and powerful, Australian playwright Melissa Bubnic opts for a no-holds-barred demolition job.
The rarefied atmosphere inhabited by corporate elites is shown to be a joyless, dog-eat-dog world of ruthless power-plays and vicious bullying where every attempt to establish human intimacy is corrupted by financial imperatives.
A hint of glamour comes from Lucy Jane Senior's stylish costumes and Rachael Walker's sophisticated set design, which features an elegant array of venetian blinds opening onto ominously flickering LED screens.
The drama is cleverly integrated into a cabaret-style presentation with emotional renditions of torch songs delivered over Leon Radojkovic's grungy guitar-driven soundtrack.
