There’s no rite of passage like a field trip to the wilderness. Children are bused from school to the woods and set loose, with just a few chaperones. Hours later, they return with a greater appreciation for nature and a newfound sense of independence. But in Picnic at Hanging Rock, not everyone returns.
Based on Joan Lindsay’s unsettling 1967 novel, Hilary Bell and Greta Gertler Gold’s musical adaptation follows a group of girls in 1900 Australia who take a school trip to a massive volcanic rock formation. Led by the charismatic Miranda (Gillian Han, singing the soprano ingénue part prettily), three of the girls climb up into the rocks, disregarding the warning shouts of a younger classmate. Two are never seen again.
Bell’s book and lyrics often struggle to reflect the seductive eeriness of its source material, with lines that feel overly literal or dependent on the rhyme scheme, such as:
The rock has made those girls its own
The rock must have a heart of stone.
The simplicity distracts from a story that relies on ambiguity; how can we accept the mystery of the vanishing girls when so many other plot points are stated directly to the audience?
Gold’s music, however, is delightfully complex, with rich, dissonant harmonies throughout. The score’s musicality pairs well with Nick Kourtides’ whispering, cicada-filled sound design, and Mayte Natalio’s simple, fluid choreography, which calls to mind Martha Graham’s “Appalachian Spring.” Natalio and director Portia Krieger make the most of the Greenwich House Theater, inviting the performers to climb all over Daniel Zimmerman’s vine-covered set and venture into the audience (though the production suffers from a lack of the grand, titular rock).
While Picnic at Hanging Rock never quite reaches the atmospheric or ominous tone it strives for, Gold’s score remains a pleasure to listen to—even if the production can’t quite solve the central mystery of adapting one of the 20th century’s most enigmatic novels for the stage.
3 out of 5 stars
Emily Chackerian is a Brooklyn-based dramaturg and theater critic. She currently serves as the Artistic Assistant and Board Liaison at Signature Theatre and as the Associate Editor of 3Views on Theater. For more work, visit emilychackerian.substack.com.
Fast facts: ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’
Off-Broadway‘s Picnic at Hanging Rock features complex music but struggles to capture the atmospheric mystery of Joan Lindsay’s original novel.
- Greenwich House Theatre, 27 Barrow Street, New York City
- Running time: Two hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission
- Performances through January 17, 2026
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