Review: ALTAR (Underbelly George Square)

Someone old, someone new in Australian queer drama

When I say I want queer romance, I don’t just mean I want a romance that happens to be queer. When I say I want queer romance, I don’t mean that I want a formulaic narrative with a couple of traumatic backstories and obstacles thrown in. When I say I want queer romance, I don’t mean that ending on a simple “love is love” message is enough for me, not in 2025. What I mean is that I want queer romance that is as messy as the experience of being queer, with all the shifting, conflicting, complex parts kept in. I think playwright Em Tambree and the team behind ALTAR feel the same. This romantic drama from Australian company Extraterrestrial sees newly-wedded bride Sutton (Evie Korver) reunite with her childhood friend Dan (Eddie Pattison), formerly known as Dana, at her wedding reception.

Their history is not treated as a twist, but rather as something regrettable and undefined that neither wants to address directly. There is an instinct to wish the conversation would end, to say, “This is where I would leave.” But that feeling goes as quickly as it arrives when you suspend your disbelief and let it work on you as a play. Tambree leans into this through cutting, deliberate dialogue. They write as though they have never needed to use a thesaurus in their life, as though they always have precisely the word they are looking for at their fingertips. It may not be natural, but god, is it good drama!

There’s also an instinct to wish to sympathise with Dan unreservedly. They’re trans, they have just watched their childhood love marry someone else, and they are hiding at a wedding reception in their hometown, hoping that no-one will recognise them. So it comes as a surprise when they act like a dick. They’re quick-witted, challenging, playful to the point of rude, even flirtatious. Pattison gives a tremendous performance in the process. Ultimately, Dan is a far richer and more entertaining character when you accept that they are a bit of an arse, and that this adds to their complexity as a queer character. Indeed, both Dan and Sutton are bad exes to each other, but bad exes with bucketloads of chemistry. Korver and Pattison deserve credit for this, but so does director Kathryn Yates. Some moments feel slightly excessive, especially when Dan throws some theatrical poses when making a point. Still, under her direction, the performance reaches Miss Julie levels of tension at times.

When I say ALTAR is a romance, you should not go in expecting something warm, fuzzy, or uplifting. It deals in heavy themes, especially the intersection of faith and queerness. The conservative setting is well established; you can feel the prejudice seeping in under the door frame, but the conversation is not dismissive or mocking of Christianity. But even with the sensitive negotiations at play, this is the kind of thing that would make you kick your feet in excitement if you read it in a novel. The kind of thing people would write fanfiction about online. The kind of thing I wish I could watch over and over again until I knew the words verbatim. Five stars.

ALTAR will play at Underbelly George Square at 14:50 until the 25th of August

Photo Credit: JM Tubera