Over the years, Kavitha has been granted opportunities to interact with her clone, a young woman called Kaye, but without ever knowing who Kavitha us. She is explicitly warned never to let Kaye see her, as she is not meant to see or learn who she became to be. However, during one encounter, she seemingly forgets this instruction and quite quickly reveals her face to Kaye with little hesitation. Strangely, it seems that Aran is equally unconcerned with the consequences of this decision, because Kavitha faces no repercussions for breaking such a serious rule.
Furthermore, the effect on Kaye, upon discovering she is a clone is barely discussed. She gradually loses all agency within the story, existing primarily to help Kavitha unpack memories and trauma from her youth, particularly the pressure from her mother to become a doctor instead of pursuing acting. In many ways, the entire cloning element could have been removed from the plot without fundamentally changing the story being told. Even Kaye’s OnlyFans persona and videos, while providing laughs, fail to develop into anything substantial or meaningful within the broader narrative.
The scenes between Sarah Fitzgerald (Kaye) and Michelle Perera (Kavitha), as they recreate, direct, and reinterpret conversations from the past, provide some of the production’s strongest instances. These sequences bring humour while also highlighting how memory, perception, and reality can shift over time, and the lasting impact these experiences can have on our lives.
Under director Isabella Vadiveloo’s guidance, the movements through the lounge room and kitchen are fluid and dynamic, never allowing the confined domestic setting to become visually or emotionally restrictive.
The sound design by Reuben Cumming and compositions by Hari Sivanesan add a distinct cultural and ancestral presence to the work. Used throughout scene transitions and more subtly within scenes themselves, the music supports the atmosphere without overwhelming it. The projections across screens and curtains are striking and clearly intended to connect with the themes of technology, AI, and cloning, but due to the minimal attention to these concepts in the writing, they are often too abstract and disconnected from the story unfolding on stage.
The Supposed To Be is an intriguing exploration of regret, identity, and the migrant experience, but ultimately struggles to interrogate the very ideas it introduces. While the performances, direction, and design work hard to create emotional and visual texture, the cloning concept itself remains underdeveloped. Despite being central to the premise, it is rarely meaningfully examined beyond functioning as a device to revisit Kavitha’s past. What results is a production that may be filled with compelling moments, but also one that doesn't fully realise the potential of its ambitious setup.
SHOW DETAILS
Venue: Footscray Community Arts, 45 Moreland St, Footscray
Season: until 8 June | Thurs-Sat 7pm, Sat 2pm
Duration: 105 minutes
Tickets: $49 Full | $44 Concession
Bookings: Rising
Image credit: Thuy Vy
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