Lachlan Ruffy said The Book of Everything is "the most beautiful play I've ever done."
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Directed by Ed Wightman, it was written by Richard Tulloch, adapted from the novel by Guus Kuijer and is set in the summer of 1951 in Amsterdam. Thomas Klopper ( Ruffy) is nine going on 10, and has been brought up to fear everything by his sternly religious father (Jerry Hearn).
"Things are either sinful or evil, things he will get punished for by Papa who thinks things are sinful and evil," Ruffy said.
"Thomas sees things that don't really happen and he uses his Book of Everything to remember everything that's happened. He can't tell what happens in his mind and what actually happens."
Ruffy said, "It's written in such a gorgeous positive way – it's as if a nine-year-old is writing it – it simplifies all these really complex themes without trivialising any of them."
The play is written from the emotional perspective of the boy who is able to see the changes in his family as the play progresses.
"He sees Papa does love everybody, that Mama is sad, that his sister Margaret stops being afraid."
Hearn said Papa is not a villain but a man who genuinely believes is doing the right thing by his family.
"You do see a very conflicted man losing his temper and getting upset ... being a bloke he loses his temper and takes it out as with his fists."
He said, "When you read the book as an adult it resonates like all classics and the play captures that beautifully. Like all great art it is universal as well as particular."
Eliza (Tamina Koehne-Drube) is a 16-year-old girl with a leather leg who is a friend of Margot. Koehne-Drube said the character "is the relief of the play ... she has a happy disposition. She has a physical defect, but emotionally she is more healthy [than the Kloppers]."
Thomas is drawn to her and, she said, "falls in love with the idea of who she is".
She said, "The play is about so much more than the plot ... it's about finding happiness in life: where, how and with whom."
The Book of Everything , produced by Canberra Repertory Society is on at Theatre 3.Not suitable for young children. Preview September 12 at 8pm (all tickets $30), then September 13 to 28, Wednesday to Saturday at 8pm. Matinees September 21, 22 and 28 at 2pm. Tickets:Full $40, Concession $35. Bookings: 62571950 or canberrarep.org.au.