Have a Goodnight Walter review

In Have a Goodnight Walter, Dean and Mary are a married couple living with Dean’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Checking that doors are locked, windows are shut, and monitoring the motion detector camera at the front gate are all common occurrences. One evening, an unlocked door threatens Dean’s fragile OCD management, as his intrusive thoughts begin to manifest through the people around him.
 
The 45-minute show immediately drops the audience into Dean’s headspace, with no preamble. We are told early on that Dean has OCD, but are offered no context for his extreme behaviour or mental state, which leaves us scrambling to make sense of why he is spiralling. Personally, I’ve never seen OCD portrayed in such a psychologically heightened way, involving feverish hallucinations. A better-defined introduction to Dean’s internal world would have helped ground the audience, making certain scenes more meaningful, such as why the police conduct a welfare check prompted by his OCD.

Bridget Morrison delivers solid work as Mary, slowly building her character towards a helpless, desperate frustration. Tim Cox takes on the challenging role of Dean, and while his commitment is clear, the performance doesn’t fully convince. This is largely because the script pushes him into a cycle of rapid pacing, shouting, and distress without giving him the opportunity to explore emotional nuance.
 
There are some almost throwaway references to Mary’s recovery from an eating disorder, which does not leave an impression due to the minimal time given to it. The story needs to unpack this thread further and present its impact on their relationship or remove it altogether to maintain focus on Dean’s OCD.
 
Sylvia Santori and Bryan Cooper (the latter also the writer) play supporting roles, as well as the "Invaders" - the manifestations of Dean’s inner turmoil. Their physicality and facial expressions, especially from Santori, are unsettling. However, their "human" characters (police officers and friends of the couple) feel one-dimensional, as if they’re simply delivering lines rather than inhabiting these people.
 
While Cooper’s script has room for development, his interpretation of OCD and mental illness is imaginative and deeply unnerving. Pre-recorded video segments appear on a screen, mimicking the motion sensor camera outside the couple’s home, which adds to the feeling of uncertainty and introduces a surreal, nightmare-like quality. The sound design is particularly effective, using jarring violin sounds, door scratches, and other haunting audio to increase the tension.
 
It was also a welcome surprise to see director Gabrielle Ward make such functional use of the downstairs space at The Butterfly Club. The audience sit in single rows on either side of the narrow room, with the performance unfolding not just on stage but along the makeshift aisle between the two rows and at the back of the venue. Some blocking occasionally restricts sightlines but the setup successfully immerses both regular and new attendees in an environment that is deliberately designed to make us uncomfortable from the moment we sit down.
 
Have a Goodnight Walter is an intense and often disorienting viewing experience, driven by its inventive use of space, disconcerting sound design, and eerie visual elements. These independent theatre makers are taking bold creative steps and should be recognised as such, but as an exploration of mental illness, the piece needs to establish a clearer narrative foundation before layering on its chaotic atmosphere. As it stands, the heavy focus on sensory discomfort comes at the expense of a cohesive story and characters the audience can truly invest in.

Show Details

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place Melbourne
Season: until 12 July | 7:00pm
Duration: 45 minutes
Tickets: $45 Full | $40 Concession
Bookings: The Butterly Club