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 The Modern International Dead
SBW Stables Theatre
until October 11
Bookings: 1300 306 776
If you saw any of the recent footage, at one point heading every news bulletin last Sunday night, of Haitian women entangled in razor wire during a rush for food aid while aid workers were desperately trying to maintain control, it might have momentarily disturbed you. At the risk of sounding preposterous I was actually moved more than one millimetre towards caring and started thinking about donating and sometime after that wondered if what I was experiencing was a gentle aftershock as a result of seeing Damien Millar’s The Modern International Dead.
Millar’s play is a vivid example of verbatim theatre but the question remains can a play actually help change things? Well it got me off the couch and made me think beyond my own concrete courtyard. It clearly hit a nerve perhaps because this detailed telling of the stories of Australians on the front line, in Cambodia, Rwanda, Iraq, East Timor, where the crackle of gunfire is common not to mention chemical weapons and natural disasters, goes beyond exotic fancy and its message of involvement and bearing witness is imbedded and important.
Millar has managed to write an interesting play that is also a fascinating experience for the audience. Out of the “many of hours of interviews” he admits to conducting, he has created engaging and unpretentious characters – inadvertent heroes toiling in trouble spots, with high expectations of themselves, which makes them vulnerable, as they try to stem the tide of suffering they continually observe. Millar also seems to possess a subtle insight into the Australian psyche which is most evident from the play’s irreverent humour. There is a lot of information to absorb and while I think the piece could do with some tough trimming, careful attention by the audience is rewarded.
Director Chris Mead keeps the piece briskly paced and while the design team contribute effectively, the emphasis remains on the stories being told. The actors make the dense material leap off the page. Belinda Mc Cory, Colin Moody and 2005 WAAPA graduate Ian Meadows play over 60 characters between them, often transforming mid-scene and sometimes mid-sentence. It is a real actors’ piece and all three seem to be enjoying being given the chance to stretch themselves. While I originally found Meadows’ performance too interior, he is, in fact, the tender soul of the production. Meadows’ main portrayal of peacekeeper Luke, a man who is both self-destructive yet able to thrive on chaos, is incredibly moving.
Verbatim theatre is not for everyone but I believe this work has a huge value.
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