‘The theatre is the only place where the past, the present and the future can be revealed at the same moment’ (Mark Butt, Director of When The Rain Stops Falling.) This couldn’t be truer of a production, than this. Spanning four generations from London 1959 to Australia 2039, this story interweaves a series of episodes and vignettes of families, whose connection is revealed through a gripping, enigmatic storyline in which harrowing family secrets emerge from the past. From the same pen as last season’s ‘Things I Know To Be True’, this poignant production brings you into a world where hidden truths break apart relationships.
Director Mark Butt has nailed this production. Everything from his stark stage design, to the contemporary soundtrack and the brilliant direction of his cast was just wonderful and transported you to a professional theatre with the Garrick’s ‘high-end amateur’ quality. If I had to pick fault, it may be that the first half is slightly too long, but that’s in the writing not the direction. With a projected backdrop of a family tree (with lots of Gabrielle and Gabriel) before the play began and during the interval, the audience automatically attempted unpicking the who’s who of this story and it became harder the more they jumped back and forward in time but by the second half, the lightbulb moment finally happened and it was fascinating to watch unfold.
The cast of eight had a hefty script to negotiate, which was full of monologues and duologues but never ceased to captivate the audience. From Gabriel York’s opening monologue (Mark Butt) with the dramatic rain falling in the backdrop to the letters of Henry Law (John Joyce-O’Keefe), atop Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), this was just a beautiful insight into the characters’ psyche. The female protagonists who played mirrored roles of older/younger versions of the characters were also beautifully portrayed with pathos. The innocence of young Gabrielle York (Alex Edge), juxtaposed with her older self (Beverly Stuart-Cole) was tragically brilliant and the contrast in the two Elizabeth Law roles was stunningly perceptive and authentic in her discovery of the truth. But it was in the relationship between Gabrielle York (Edge) and Gabriel Law (Joseph Meighan), where I felt the story really gripped me and brought everything together. These two performers had a wonderful rapport with one another and even tackled Australian and British accents with ease and believability, something which can become jarring in an amateur production but felt so natural and real in this case.
The cast of this production didn’t put a foot wrong, which is not only testament to their director but the repertoire of experience the performers brought to this Garrick production. These are mostly trained actors from drama schools from Mountview to the Arden Centre, as well as other cast members with many years of experience performing at the Garrick Theatre and across the country and you feel this quality when you watch this production as you sense a stage presence from all cast members which only normally exists in professional productions.
It’s hard to choose a favourite character or performance but a particular standout moment for me was in the choreography of the opening scenes. Choreography by Clara Darcy, gave this production a slick and contemporary feel and the simple stage movement produced an authenticity reminiscent of modern Dance-Theatre, without any of the pretension. In particular, the eating of the fish soup in unison and the stage exits, created a uniformity that reminded me of companies such as DV8 and Frantic Assembly.
This was one of the strongest productions I have seen in a while at the Garrick: brilliant casting of a wonderful script with superb production quality. It had me gripped from start to finish. This is one not to be missed.
Reviewer - Johanna Hassouna-Smith
on - 2/3/20
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