In the perfectly matching setting of the Meat Market in North Melbourne, Punk Rock is an intense, confronting but relevant show that showcases themes of abuse and mental illness as well as general teenage rebellion.
The set was very effective giving the impression of the school common room and setting the audience up for the school setting of the production. Director Jay Wood has assembled an incredibly talented cast of young actors who portray the intense subject matter with power and believability.  Each individual cast member holds their own and brings passion to their performance.
To the cast, as William Carlisle, Colombus Lane goes on a huge emotional journey as he falls apart mentally. He tackled this role with brilliant precision and keeps the audience captivated, I admire the journey he had to go on and deliver that kind of performance.
As Bennett, Luke Hill-Smith plays the bully and abuser and was one of the standout performances for me. His ability to bring that much intensity was something I haven’t seen in a long time, his dramatic chops are truly amazing.
Lilly Cahill is played by Maddie Richards who brings the teenage angst and vulnerability to the table with her performance. She delivered a stunning performance.
Cissy Franks is played by Kaitlin Devine and plays the frustrated friend role with grace, beauty but also pain and angst. I found her to be the motherly figure of the group.
Lachlan Herring as Chadwick Meade copped most of the abuse, both verbal and physical and he shows great poise in his performance. You could clearly feel the pain and fear he was enduring as his character was continually abused by Bennett.
As Nicholas Chaiman, Matthew Poggi’s performance is of high quality as he also shows fear and tries to protect his friends.
Finally, Grace McLaughlin plays Tanya Gleeson who also cops a lot of the abuse, particularly in the final few scenes. She puts in an astonishing performance and definitely brought the goosebump moments.
A shoutout must also go to the lighting design by Cale Dennis, it is not particularly complicated but brings the intensity during the appropriate moments.
