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Inheritance by
Hannie Rayson Melbourne
Theatre Company Playhouse,
Victorian Arts Centre
Wed
5 March 03 Published March 03 -
www.stateart.com.au Review
by Carol Middleton
Expectations
were high at the opening night of Inheritance
at the Playhouse, as this was Hannie Rayson’s first play since Life
After George, which was a phenomenal success both in Australia and
overseas. The difference
between the two plays is striking. Inheritance is set, not in drawing
rooms or studies, but in the great Australian outdoors, with all its humour,
its coarseness, its family rivalries and its heartbreak. It depicts the
lives of two 80-year-old twins, Dibs and Girlie, as the family starts
to disintegrate and the family farm is under threat. Inheritance
is quintessentially Australian, and this quality is likely to give it
as much appeal overseas as a play that deals in universalities. Writing
about the bush was a new departure for the sophisticated Melburnian, who
saw it as a challenge and a chance to learn, to come to grips with another
dimension of Australia. The result
is a down-to-earth, funny, shocking and entertaining drama. It was so
funny, as much in the delivery as the writing, that many lines were obscured
by the hearty laughter from the audience. Hopefully, as the season continues,
the actors will adapt to the laughter and wait longer to deliver their
next lines. Rayson
has a fine command of the dramatic. Having taken the theme of “Who
gets the farm?” as the focus of the play, she then casts her net
wide to weave the threads of several other pressing issues into the family
saga: native land rights, the stolen generation, globalisation, the cult
of Pauline Hanson, and the status of gays and women in the bush. The issues
arise organically from the plot and the interaction of the characters,
with the dialogue reproducing the colourful Australian vernacular. Veteran
actors Lois Ramsey, Monica Maughan and Ronald Falk anchor the drama with
their solid portrayals of Girlie, Dibs and her husband Farley. As Girlie,
Ramsay’s deadpan comic delivery is particularly popular with the
audience, and provides a nice irony as Girlie’s manipulative character
is slowly revealed. The play
is studded with powerful performances. Steve Bisley is perfectly cast
as Girlie’s son Lyle, who engages us in his frustration and passion
for the land all the time that he is mercilessly cruel and unforgiving.
Wayne Blair puts in a natural but passionate performance as the adopted
Aboriginal son, Nugget, and has a distinctly defined relationship with
each of the characters on stage. Rhys McConnochie
as the gay son from the city, William, is a convincing, rounded character,
if a little muted. His voice, in particular, was very light and lacked
projection. Julie Nhill as the daughter, also from the city, and her son
Felix, played by Gareth Elllis, bring a breath of contemporary Melbourne
air into the family. Ellis, in his first role with the MTC, creates a
very physical and engaging character as the vegan urban youngster who
becomes tragically caught up in the family drama. Geraldine
Turner plays Lyle’s wife Maureen, a Pauline Hanson clone, with a
hard-edged righteousness and a panache that had the audience clapping
at one of her exits. New recruits to the MTC and recent graduates, Katherine
Fyffe and Jody Kennedy, play Lyle and Maureen’s young daughters
and the twins’ younger selves and bring a fresh innocence and exuberance
into the atmosphere of distrust and manipulation. The text
of the play, which was available for sale, had obviously undergone considerable
change in rehearsal. The earthiness of the setting in the Mallee was written
into the text, but failed to translate to the stage. Where were the “car
bodies and rusty swinging seat with plastic cushions” mentioned
in the text? The set design, with its rolling floor sections and sliding
wooden walls, was too slick for the bush setting and restricted the furniture
to certain areas, so that, from the seats at the side, some of the action
was completely screened and the voices hard to hear. This family
saga is already been noticed by the TV networks and will probably be adapted
for the small screen. As a stage play, it is economical and dramatic in
its delineation of plot and character, a satisfying experience for both
actors and audience. Inheritance captures Australian contemporary
culture, from the rural perspective, in a defining work of art that will
take its place in our theatrical heritage.
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© copyright 2003 Carol Middleton |