"It makes life so much easier when everybody knows its time", says
one character in Belinda Lopez's The Window Outside. Presented as part
of the Victorian Seniors Festival, the play explores the relationship
between a family when tragedy strikes and tough decisions need to be
made. Everyone is reaching boiling point after Frank has had a stroke,
Evelyn is showing signs of dementia and their two adult daughters are
unable to continue caring for their parents.
Carrie
Moczynski reprises her role as Evelyn after playing her seven years ago
in a season at La Mama. Her portrayal is once again laced with a loving
vulnerability and determination and even though she doesn't explicitly
state it, there are traces of acknowledgement that her mind is slowly
deteriorating. Ian Rooney's performance relies on his body language and
facial expressions to tell his story. He does a great job of
highlighting the spark of life he once had and how it has now left him.
As his oldest daughter Sharon states in one scene, he is but a shell of
what he was, which the flashbacks also do well in supporting.
What are memories? What becomes of them
as we - and the people with whom we’ve shared them with - begin
to get older, frailer and eventually die? Barking Spider Visual Theatre
specialise in creating unique experiences for audiences through immersive and
interactive storytelling and with In A
Heartbeat, the company allows us
to take a heart warming visit to the years gone by.
We are greeted by a flurry of excitable
hosts (Ashleigh Gray, Emma Telford, Jaime Chapman, Rachel Duffy, Laura Aldous
and Chloe Smith) who guide us to one of five tables that are adorned with
teacups, hot tea and an assortment of homemade biscuits and sweets. The women
wear colourful patterned skirts with aprons tied around their waists, bright
blouses and various pieces of jewellery, reminiscent of your stereotypical 1950s
fashion.
Our memories are our most prized possession. They are a reminder of who we are, where we've come from and what we've achieved. But what happens when our memories are no longer reliable and begin to fail us? Initially performed at La Mama Theatre's 2013 Explorations season, Black Hole Theatre's The Book of Revelations is an immersive, performance installation on the disorienting experiences had by people with dementia and other mental illnesses.
Alison Richards, who also serves as writer of The Book of Revelations, delivers a strong and captivating performance as Ada as she cleverly shares snippets of her memories and thoughts through operatic moments, utilising the beauty of the sung voice to contrast the internal horrors that are unfolding. The use of Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from The Nutcracker heightens the tension as the nightmare continues while exposing the vulnerability of Ada as she succumbs to her illness.
