The 7 Stages of Grieving, Sydney Theatre Company, Playhouse, Canberra Theatre

 

Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman's one woman show, "Seven Stages of Grieving", has outlived both of them, getting several productions with new actresses and directors discovering new elements of their original series of scenes looking at the topic of Indigenous grief - of the losses the last 225 years have inflicted on the traditional owners of this country, and of the scars that still remain. Elaine Crombie as actress and Shari Sebbens as director give this a new interpretation, played on a stage covered in mounds of dirt covered in shells, with Crombie providing the heart and soul behind the original words, providing humour, tears, rage and determination in her exploration of the text. There's also an added coda looking at the possible paths ahead, with 7 actions that can be taken to help heal, and like the best additions it feels like it should have been there all along. It's a powerful evening, both as storytelling and as a demonstration of Crombie's considerable skills as she engages and draws her audience in, making the show completely her own. 

Grace Under Pressure, Alternative Facts, The Q

 

This docu-drama comes from a series of interviews conducted in 2017 with various health care professionals about the stresses and pressures of the job - using largely their own words to tell the stories about the joys and the frustrations of having life and death decisions in your hands in an industry where often the worst care is held out to their own employees. It's a confronting set of tales, with shocking moments throughout of cruelty, bullying, emotional destruction and occasional personal dignity and self-respect. Simply staged by director David Williams, performed by a strong ensemble of four playing both the various interview participants and occasionally the interviewers, on a simple yet powerful set by Isabel Hudson, this is stunning direct theatre, storytelling at its rawest and most powerful. Williams has a strong foundation in this kind of verbatim theatre, being one of the foundation members of Version 1.0, who a decade ago were turning government inquiries into powerful theatre such as "CMI (Certain Maritme Incident") about the Tampa enquiry and "Deeply Offensive and Utterly Untrue" about the Coles Weapons-for-wheat inquiry and in this one he takes a more perisomal yet equally powerful look at the way society fails to care about those who care for us.

Dogged, Griffin theatre, The Stables

 

This is an intriguing three hander, the story of a woman, a dog and a dingo in the mountains of Gippsland, encountering each other in an area of wild country and confronting issues of humanity versus nature, about the hidden history of the area and the uncaring nature of the wilderness. The trio of performers are directed tightly by Declan Greene, with both dog and dingo given additional movement by Kirk Page giving both performers an animalistic intensity that stuns. If I have any criticisms it's that possibly the gear shift in the last ten minutes feels a bit clunky - it's important material that needs to be told, but it doesn't entirely fit in with the rest of the play as it's currently written. This is engaging,confrontational material, done strongly and, as my first introduction to post-Lee-Lewis Griffin it's a strong start. 

The Cherry Orchard, Belvoir

 

Chekhov's final play, "The Cherry Orchard" is a play that seems often to get overtones both of his ensuing death and the Russian Revolution shortly after - though in many ways it's more a comedy about people failing to live up to their responsibilities judging those around them able to manage better - about desperation, debt, saying goodbye to the past, about those hurt by the failures of the wealthy and those who find themselves able to overcome it. Eamon Flack's production feels nicely autumnal, on a minimalist set that finds clever ways to shift emphasis. It's performed by a strong multiracial ensemble of performers, with clever choices throughout to bring Chekov's melencholic tone across, with comedy, lust, romance and failures throughout to keep us intrigued. It's a longish evening (2 hrs 35) but handles the pace well, with all the little moments that tell so much about the characters highlighted. 

The Appleton Ladies Potato Race, Ensemble Theatre, Playhouse, Canberra Theatre

 

This charmer of a small-scale Australian play is a great 5-hander comedy for an ensemble of women, describing the events when a recently-returned doctor upsets the balance in a small country town when she begins to question how the annual potato race shares its prize money between the men's and the women's event. Melanie Tait's script gives a rich array of small-country town characters and multiple narrative twists and turns, and never condescends to the characters to make them simple stock types - they all have different layers and are capable of surprising and delighting us. 

There's strong performances throughout the cast, from Valerie Bader's stoic and stern Bev (Bader has a great way with a dry one-liner), Merridy Eastman's cheerfully friendly Barb, Sharon Millerchip's reluctant agitator Penny, Amber McMahon's slightly trashy Nikki, and Sapidah Kian's supportive Rania. Priscilla Jackman directs this tightly and charmingly on Michael Scott-Mitchell's clever set, flowing the action together in a way that makes a fun night out. Catch it before it goes!