FURIOUS MATTRESS
“You can’t follow a recipe in a recipe book. How come you think you’ll be able to do an exorcism?”
Robert Menzies pulls a never ending lock of hair from Kate Kendall watched by Thomas Wright in the Malthouse production of Furious Matress. Photo-Jeff Busby
Cover photo: Matilda Ridgeway in Furious Mattress at Downstairs Belvoir. Photo- Robert Catto
The script of Furious Mattress is available as an eBook, published by Currency Press
Info about the Malthouse production –
https://stories.malthousetheatre.com.au/shows/furious-mattress/
“The audience is intrigued and captivated from the opening seconds. Don’t miss it.” Chris Boyd.
AWARDS:
Shortlisted -
NSW Premier’s Literary Award
Victorian Premier’s Literary Award
Queensland Premier’s Literary Award
Australian Writers Guild Award for New Play
PRODUCTIONS:
Malthouse Theatre, 2011
Directed by Tim Maddock
Belvoir Downstairs, 2025
Directed by Margaret Thanos
Loosely based on events that took place in country Victoria in the mid-nineties, Furious Mattress is the story of a back-yard exorcism that goes tragically wrong. Convinced that his wife is possessed by evil spirits, Pierce enlists the aid of Annette and Max, and together they battle for the soul of Else. The play explores the human capacity for committing atrocities under the banner of doing great good, and how ordinary and sad such tragedies can be, even at the extremes of human behaviour. The play employs a slightly heightened form of psychological realism, with surreal, grotesque and comic elements as well as moments of pathos and beauty.
“The writing is superb, the performances admirable, the direction and design excellent. The discombobulation emerges more from the effect of the whole piece, which at first masquerades as a naturalistic play, and which proceeds to juggle gothic, horror, comedy, camp and tragedy, often simultaneously, in ways which not only are unpredictable, but which don’t permit you ever to settle on a way to view it.” Alison Croggon, Theatre Notes.
“Else was not the first woman to be described as difficult, and not the first to be subject to an exorcism for that very reason. Based on a true story from 90s rural Victoria, Furious Mattress by Melissa Reeves is a dark comedy exploring parochialism, ignorance and intolerance. A scathing indictment of prevailing systems, most notably the Abrahamic religions which perpetuate all manner of social exclusionary, Reeves’ deeply subversive writing is as thrilling as it is mischievous.” Suzie goes see.