# The Marvellous Boy

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Play by Louis Nowra

The Marvellous Boy Written by Louis Nowra Genre Melodrama

The top of the [Sydney Tower](/source/Sydney_Tower), where the play's first scene is set

The main street of [Kings Cross](/source/Kings_Cross%2C_New_South_Wales), where most of the play is set

***The Marvellous Boy*** is a play by Australian playwright [Louis Nowra](/source/Louis_Nowra),[1] the second part of the [Boyce trilogy](/source/Boyce_trilogy).[2] It is set in [Sydney](/source/Sydney), particularly in [Kings Cross](/source/Kings_Cross%2C_New_South_Wales).

It was first performed at the [SWB Stables](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SWB_Stables&action=edit&redlink=1) on 13 October 2005 by the [Griffin Theatre Company](/source/Griffin_Theatre_Company) with the following cast:

- Luke: [Toby Schmitz](/source/Toby_Schmitz)

- Malcolm Boyce, his father: [Danny Adcock](/source/Danny_Adcock)

- Ray: Anthony Phelan

- Victor/Bain Cipolla: [Bruce Spence](/source/Bruce_Spence)

- Esther: Susie Lindeman

The production:

- Director: [David Berthold](/source/David_Berthold)

- Designer: Nicholas Dare

- Lighting designer: Matt Marshall

## Sources

Some of the characters have similarities to well-known people in Sydney, such as the Moran family. Esther's plight resembles that of [Juanita Nielsen](/source/Juanita_Nielsen) in the 1970s. Ray has suggestions of businessman [Abe Saffron](/source/Abe_Saffron) and his partner Jim Anderson, who did die of bird flu. In his Introduction to the text, director [David Berthold](/source/David_Berthold) also compares Malcolm to property developer Frank Theeman (p. x). But such similarities are so numerous and diverse that the play is clearly no *[roman à clef](/source/Roman_%C3%A0_clef)*.

## Critical reception

Stephen Dunne, writing for *[The Sydney Morning Herald](/source/The_Sydney_Morning_Herald)* had reservations about the play: "Perhaps it's a middle section of the trilogy problem, but this play feels very thin. There are some cliched ideas, the characters don't really go anywhere, and the conclusion (after the needless and momentum-sapping interval) will surprise few."[3]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Austlit_1-0)** ["Austlit — *The Marvellous Boy* by Louis Nowra"](https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C550604). Austlit. Retrieved 1 August 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["*The Boyce Trilogy* by Louis Nowra"](https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C550603). Austlit. Retrieved 1 August 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["The Marvellous Boy"](https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/the-marvellous-boy-20051015-gdm94y.html). The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 October 2005. Retrieved 1 August 2025.

## Notes

- Nowra, Louis, *The Boyce trilogy*, Sydney: Currency Press, 2007. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-86819-798-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-86819-798-2)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Marvellous Boy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marvellous_Boy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marvellous_Boy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.