Doing the Block by John Romeril, Arena Theatre Company, 22 May 1994

THEATRE

By Arena Theatre Company

At Arena Theatre Studio till June 1994

Reviewer: Kate Herbert around 22 May 1994

This review was published in The Melbourne Times after 22 May 1994

 

John Romeril has written a very warm, sensitive and politically informed script directed by David Carlin for Arena Theatre. "This century has made us all gypsies " says one character. Migration, refugeeism and fast travel have moved us out of our familiar environments and we are all coping with change beyond our capacities.

 

Romeril effectively links two stories. One about Nam (Kha Viet Tran) who against his mother's wishes goes back to Vietnam seeking his ancestors even though he was born here. The second story is about a young Hispano-Australian (Carmen Mascia) and her newly discovered uncle (Petru Gheorghiu) who has a mental illness resulting from the torture he suffered in Argentina.

 

Romeril's ironic sense of the absurdity of political abuses is evident in the uncle's comment to Nam's Vietnamese mother (Min Ha). "You fled the communists. I was tortured for being one."

 

The linking character is a very generous and charming Koori welfare worker (Tom E. Lewis) who attends everybody's needs but his own but his "clients" look after him in the end.

 

This production is musical, and the dearth of quality voices is compensated for by the commitment to the social and political content. Live music composed by Irene Vela runs under the action, giving emotional layers to the scenes. Songs weave in and out of dialogue, stories link and interact like an operatic score. At one point as the song moves between household, the style imperceptibly alters from Flamenco to Vietnamese.

 

Trina Parker has cleverly designed a scaffold set representative of the Richmond flats.

 

The problem in this production is that the actors seem to be strolling around the cavernous space much of the time. Trian Parker’scaffolding set representative of the Richmond flats is cleverly designed, but the play is much stronger when songs are choreographed tightly and scenes are emotionally changed. Some of the performances have little dramatic and emotional depth but the text assists them.

 

KATE HERBERT