When I read the blurb about a play I’m about to see and it’s described as “courageous” and “compassionate” and it uses the word “journey” to describe any process other than physically going from point A to point B, I feel a deep sense of foreboding. If the play also happens to be about a difficult subject such as mental illness, that sense of foreboding intensifies. How do you deal with such a topic without descending into the realm of melodramatic cliché that’s suggested by the blurb?

For writer Mary Rachel Brown the answer is experience (having worked in a psychiatric facility) and research (talking to sufferers and carers). The result, Inside Out, is a truly moving piece of theatre. Not for nothing did Brown win the 2008 Rodney Seaborn Award for this play. The story of art student Simon (Lindsay Farris) and his mother Sue (Tracy Mann) is an effective vehicle for conveying the sense of isolation and despair that mental illness creates for sufferers and families alike.

The real strength in this play comes from Brown’s decision to only show Simon and Sue on stage. Simon’s father is not on the scene, and various family and friends only seem to convey their concern via the telephone. Thus Sue’s concern over Simon’s increasingly erratic behaviour is magnified by the sense that there’s no place to turn for support. As Simon becomes not just ill but dangerous, and it’s clear that authorities are unwilling to step in until something catastrophic occurs, Sue finds herself on the brink and questioning her own sanity.

For Simon it’s even worse. His monologues, including the “discipline” he imposes on himself to hide his condition when being questioned by doctors, are truly baffling and more than a little scary. Watching his babbling is like listening to a Hieronymous Bosch painting. This is tempered by his awareness, just under the surface, that he is ill, and the enemy is not his mother or his doctors but the stuff inside his skull. Watching the ‘”real” Simon try to fight to the surface – and fail – is truly frightening.

Both Mann and Farris are superb. Farris has a particularly difficult job and he succeeds, delivering both plaintive monologues and violent mood swings with equal skill. No matter what stage Simon’s illness is at, the “real” Simon – an intelligent and articulate young man with a wry sense of humour - is always present in Farris’ performance.

Mann is also amazing. When Sue isn’t grieving for the son she’s effectively lost or fearing for her life, she’s battling against the indifference of those who should be ready to help. Having her son’s label changed from “sensitive artist” to “mentally ill” is a painful but necessary process, and Mann depicts this with a finely tuned combination of frustration, strength and pathos.

The whole production, including set, lighting and sound design, is well done, and director Tom Healy handles the material with sensitivity. That the production is so good is especially impressive given that Healy took over late in the piece, after original director Carol Woodrow had to step aside for health reasons. Inside Out conveys the trauma of mental illness simply and effectively, and inspires empathy for those that suffer because of it.