Nevil Shute's 1957 novel tells a very much of-its-time apocalypse, as isolated people in Melbourne wait for inevitable doom to drift down after a short northern hemisphere nuclear war has left everything irradiated and created a cloud of fallout which is slowly enveloping the earth. Set in the near future of 1963, it's a slow collapse as our characters meet and attempt to reason their way out of their fates. Tommy Murphy and Kip Williams' adaptation keeps it very much in period - the opening image of characters strolling across a beachside on a summers day evokes Max Dupain's photography, and there's care to keep the attitudes very much of the period - these are not characters who would rant against their fate, more quietly breaking inside. Kip Williams gives it a staging that is simultaneously epic enough to fill the Ros Packer stage and simple and beautifully scaled - a multipurpose platform, walls of four white cloths (one of which sweeps towards the audience and away again for scene changes), and a couple of set elements coming in from the flies to represent a periscope or a trellised veranda. It's beautifully paced, to Grace Ferguson's moving score, striking and impressive in its precision.
There's strong work from the performers - Tai Hara as the US commander quietly mourning his wife and assuming his responsibility as one of the last representations of his nation as he drifts into a relationship with Conessa Treffone's young woman eager for experience, Michelle Lee Davidson and Ben O'Toole as the young couple trying to bring up a child in the face of disaster, Matthew Backer as the scientist looking to find escapism away from the truth he already knows, and a number of other performers taking on multiple roles as various other figures finding a dignified way to face their fate.
It's a very melancholy piece but with great moments of soul and beauty - particularly the final image. This should feel like an oddity - a previous generation's fantasy of doom, superseded by the last 60 years of history, but instead, it feels just as relevant as we see what's been happening in the northern hemisphere this summer and await what will come for us in the next six months or so. It's a thoughtful, reflective piece that reflects its source material well without feeling particualrly retro.
No comments:
Post a Comment