First you get the wolf, then you get the sheep.... at least, that's how the Q appears to be programming. This three hander marks some familiar territory - three siblings are reunited after the death of their mother in a remote country town, dealing with the implications of their common history and planning the next steps of their lives. Played on Greg Clarke's simple but effective set (a kitchen on one side, a pub on the other and a horizon and cyclorama in the middle), Jane Bodie's script employs a series of flashbacks to take us from post-funeral departures back to the events of the days before, unpacking the issues lingering between the siblings, big and small, and providing a few mysteries to be resolved. Mark Seymour's folkish songs fit in naturally, not making this a full-blown musical but very much in that "play with songs" territory where characters have a musical background and will occasionally sing at one another in a shared language.
It's a nice, meat and potatoes piece of drama - a familiar but well-made play setting up, exploring and resolving tensions with style and economy touchingly and movingly. The three performers carry their roles well - hitting all the tense and tender notes the piece requires.
I don't want to go on too long describing this show as a lot of the pleasure is in seeing how the story unwraps itself, in its small beautiful way finding gentle truths and making small personal discoveries, but I will say this is a perfectly polished gem with a gentle heart and a whole lotta soul.
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