'Saturn's Return' Tommy Murphy & David Berthold @ Sydney Theatre Company

The girl and her toy boys, spinning around her doll house, spinning around the walls of her spinning mind, until everything is stuck from the artificial gravity. The old people in the audience stare at her from a distance and wave, like when they used to take their own kids at Luna Park.

'Elling' Axel Hellstenius & Pamela Rabe @ Sydney Theatre Company

As the mess progressively accumulates on stage, one might fear that the mind is a dangerous place to leave in. By the end, though, despite of all appearances, all the agony, the fear, and the tears can actually set one free.

'Poor Boy' Matt Cameron, Tim Finn & Simon Phillips @ Sydney Theater Company

The production is an interesting battle between the dark thoughts of human existence and the feel-good intentions of commercial theater. We are shown the hole, the grave, but in place of what really lies inside, we get a birthday cake instead.

'When the rain stops falling' Andrew Bovell & Chris Drummond @ Sydney Theatre Company

The past hides backstage, waiting with the actors and the props to reveal itself, slowly and beautifully, upside down, backwards, inside out, and sometimes with a tear or a scream. When the whole story is told, it falls victim to its own profoundness: somewhere in Bangladesh, there's more important stories to be told.