The suburbs are strange and lonely places in the plays of Lally Katz. The Kew of Neighbourhood Watch bears little resemblance to the leafy community described in real estate copy. It’s a harsh and grey world where neighbours keep to themselves, each nursing their own private sorrow.

The weekly ritual of bin night provides the setting for the first meeting of two unlikely allies. Ana (Robyn Nevin) is an eighty year old Hungarian widow, wary and flint-hearted. When curiosity gets the better of her, she reaches out to neighbour Catherine (Megan Holloway), a young, insecure actor, who feels just as alone in the world. Over coffees and errands, Ana reveals to Catherine her world-view, where every well-meaning neighbour has a hidden agenda and every offer of help is viewed with suspicion. It’s a view shaped by Ana’s history as a refugee and as a survivor, scarred by the random violence of war.

Robyn Nevin in MTC’s Neighbourhood Watch. Photo © Jeff Busby

What begins as a transactional relationship, with Ana’s stories of...