This impressive world premiere is a Black Swan production and it is being presented in the Studio Underground at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, on the corner of William and Roe Streets, Perth. The production runs nightly at 8.00 pm until Sunday 22^nd June.

The performances are approximately 90 minutes (no interval).

Unusually for the Underground theatre, the set is a full and complete representation of an actual hospital ward.

The towering 6-metre walls are decorated with typical post-war, waist level, green ceramic tiles. The centre of the backdrop consists of three, large gothic windows fitted with safety grills. There is an old hospital bed and to the side, a desk. On one of the grubby walls is a two-way mirror.

Designer India Mehta has not merely settled for simplicity, the hospital ward looks convincingly practical and dishevelled. There are clever extras incorporated to add authenticity, such as water pipes, air vents and even power boxes near the coving. Superb design.

        Dressed in hospital regulation, white pyjamas, a prominent lawyer, David Rail (Kenneth Ransom) is sitting on his infirmary bed. He looks around at the strange environment and wonders where he is and how he got there.

         A door opens and a young doctor enters. She is a psychologist, Alice (Marthe Rovik) assigned to David’s case. Slowly she enlightens David to how he was found with a head injury; but in a panic, David explains that he must leave as quickly as possible because he has an important meeting. Alice goes on to explain that he has been in the hospital for some days, and that she has been trying to help him discover what had happened.

        Things are going frustratingly slowly for the doctor, as no sooner does she seem to be getting somewhere, but David has a relapse and she has to start all over again.

          Will the two manage to unravel what happened that fateful night?

 

The director of this wonderful, suspense-filled drama is WA’s much-admired actor, Stuart Halusz, who has appeared in several major State Theatre productions. Halusz has carried his own fine acting skills and passed them on to the two sole actors. The acting starts at what appears to be a frustratingly plodding pace, but this allows the whole presentation to slowly build in tension and excitement as the play progresses. The two actors were flawless in their non-stop, 90 minutes of performing. The doctor starts ingratiatingly sweet to the patient, but her approach changes as the patient’s condition progresses. Fine teamwork between the actors and director.

The lighting designer, Trent Suidgeest, has as always given that extra touch of genius to his plan. The lights through the windows change colour as the day changes from noon to night, but he also has the lamps tracking to show the sun’s movement. The room lights have dark green, dust bin-like, metal cowls that complement India’s wall tiles perfectly.

Brett Smith’s very subtle sound design was well thought out. A soft, thunder-like rumble being used to superb effect at dramatic places in the play; whilst some composers would have composed powerful music, this was far more effective.

The apparent simplicity of this play hides the inspired acting and directing skills that are involved. An unusual script that carries the 90-minute dialogue adeptly and smoothly to its unnerving conclusion.

The set is based on the view across a country highway into the forest beyond. The stage floor has a steep rake and is asphalt covered, complete with white markings and cat’s eyes. A real 15-metre Karri trunk rises up and into the lighting grid. The background comprises stylised silhouettes of a Karri forest that give spaces for the ghosts to exist. The set transforms slowly throughout the play to a surfing beach, with breakers and an all-engulfing surfing tube that filled the stage.

The stage is littered with car parts and vehicle seats that act as normal domestic furniture for the interior scenes. The motor parts remind us of the real, perpetual thought at the back of the characters minds – the accident.

A police car siren wails; a phone is ringing followed by the knock on the door that all parents dread. The lights rise at the side of the stage to show a roadside shrine, littered with strange objects that meant so much to the latest road victim.

Distraught father, Adam (John Howard) aimlessly stabs his knife into the tree trunk, trying to take revenge on the tree for his son’s car still wrapped around it. His hysterical wife, Mary Mansfield (Sarah McNeill) hugs the corpse of her only child. Their son, Jack (Paul Ashcroft) having died on the road home to Perth from their south coast beach house. She is devastated by the loss and furious that her husband just seems to stand emotionless. Adam, however, is in denial and trying to do the brave masculine thing of controlling his feelings.

A year later, Adam is still making frequent trips south to visit his son’s tatty shrine. The father hates these trips, but he is struggling to come to terms with the numerous unanswered questions that the accident has thrown up. His wife has become introverted, remote and stays at home.

On one of his trips, Adam meets young June (Whitney Richards) who once worked in his wine cellar; she is one of the strange Fenton family who are neighbours to the winery. As they talk, like most parents who think they know their children perfectly, Adam learns a great deal about his lost heir. June tells of her meeting on the beach, with Jack and of his two so called friends. One boy is an arrogant, self-centred bully, Will (Luke McMahon) and the other lad is the sensitive and quiet Ben (Will McNeill). The group shared Jack’s last night together.

Director, Kate Cherry, Artistic Director of Black Swan State Theatre Company teamed up with Assistant Director, Emily McLean and Movement Director Chrissie Parrott, to give a fast moving, exciting character study of the family and those around.

There can hardly be a family in WA that has not been affected by such a tragedy. A catastrophe that even for friends can last for decades.

Sarah McNeill was absolutely amazing as the mother, totally hollowed out by the loss of her own flesh and blood. John Howard has deservedly won almost every Australian theatre and TV award; in this play his skill comes in under-playing the part. Behind his simple straight forward presentation you could sense the deep grief that he was feeling as his defences dropped for a split second, before the brave face was hurriedly resumed. Whitney Richards reached the pinnacle of her career with the portrayal of a girl heartbroken, but hanging on with joy to the happy moments she shared.

I am a huge fan of playwright and author, Tim Winton but on the odd occasion the dialogue of his plays seemed to lack punch; in this play we have a very unusual and extremely successful style of writing. The characters actually talk in direct address monologues, letting the audience know in depth what they are actually thinking. This gives a much richer and more satisfactory depiction of their thoughts. Had it been written in normal dialogue, confusion or offence would have occurred and only a fraction of the situation detail would have been forthcoming. These monologues, because of the clever structure gave the impression that the characters were actually talking to each other. Superb writing, Winton’s best for years.

I think that I am correct in saying that all of the ‘behind the scenes team’ were WAAPA trained.
Trent Suidgeest set was outstanding. The dark road surface inferred the tone of the play, and reduced distraction from the mood. Trent’s lighting design was aided by Kyle Bockmann, and beautifully reflected the warmth of the forest and the cool of the ocean. There were some excellent effects, such as the shimmer of the water on the massive breaker.

Ben Collins’ sound design was horrendously realistic, with the traffic zooming past (in stereo sound) to the crunching of the accident. Fiona Bruce was the costume designer, and with Marie Nitschke-McGregor skills sealed this very realistic scenario. Credit should go to stage manager Michael Maclean and his assistant Emily Stokoe for their hard work.

This play has its harrowing moments, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable as it reminds us of our own children and their secret lives – the lives that parents know exist, but shudder to think about. Tim Winton at his VERY best, backed by a stunning cast.