Devised and led by the creative Alirio Zavarce, the show opened its run on Saturday 25 February at Adelaide's Queens Theatre, a good location for this weighty, industrial scale topic. The
weather had turned the venue into 'sauna theatre', and it would have been easy to
be put off by the heat. However, like a Native American sweatlodge or a hot
yoga class, the temperature added a dimension to the audience's relationship
with the performance, a wrap of maternal closeness.
Six of the actors live with disability, and all bring a
highly engaging presence to their performance, drawing on differing skills and perspective. The effect is rich. There are moments of surprise - Ryan Rowland's heavy metal
guitar riffs punctuating the story of his birth, and Damien Turbin's Olympian lap of
honour in celebration of the son that he is; moments of edgy intensity, like Duncan Luke's instinctive self defence against taunts; moments of stillness, through Ben Wishart's quiet penmanship and Richard Sami's soft movements; and moments of
poignancy like Kym Mackenzie’s experience of loss.
The live performance is spliced by large-scale video
footage of actors’ mothers talking about their son. This multimedia approach to
the relationship is highly effective, with each actor
appearing entirely unfazed by a 4 m high video image of his mother talking
about his birth.
Each story in this performance has its own character, as
unique as the relationship that every son has with his mother, and yet the
stories work together to tell a collective tale, culminating in a final scene that
tingles.
I felt grateful for the opportunity to experience these
glimpses into the lives of these sons and their mothers. It reminded me that a parent is often the
fiercest campaigner for a person, there for the
long haul, and whose commitment, whose stand, reflects the essence of parenthood.
It also reminded me how boys grow into men, into a sense of their
own identity. In telling their stories, each
paying homage to his mother, the actors also convey something strong about themselves and
their voice in this world.
With performances through to 11 March 2012, you should go see this excellent production if you are a mother, or if you've ever had a mother.
WIN TICKETS
Purple Orange has three pairs of Sons and Mothers double passes* to give away. Email us at admin@juliafarr.org.au with your contact details. Names go into a hat and we'll draw three winners at 4.30pm Friday 2 March (Adelaide time). Read the conditions below.*Prize is for the entrance fee only. for two persons. Any other costs, including travel, are not part of the prize, and are therefore the prizewinners' responsibility. By participating in this competition, you accept that JFA Purple Orange bears no liability for any other costs associated with use of the tickets, or for any costs associated with cancellation or postponement of performance, or for any other consequence arising from your use of the tickets.
Copyright Julia Farr Association Inc 2012; Adelaide, South Australia.
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