God, this is bleak - fabulously so. An excellent production of a near-brilliant epic, it piles aching misery on tragic crisis on disturbing horror. Australian playwright Andrew Bovell pushes past family melodrama to find something so dark it makes Arthur Miller's characters seem self-indulgent and screechy.
So yes, this play is bleak. Brilliantly and upliftingly so. For many people that will make the one hour fourty-five minutes of uninterrupted drama quite a daunting prospect. I can understand why, but I can't agree. I've said many times before that the reason I prefer to go to theatre productions is to be challenged and pushed. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of musicals and comedy, and I'm not just looking for depression, but there can be joy and redemption in tragedy. There's something so moving, raw and personal in seeing the trials and tribulations of group of strangers played out on stage. The human condition laid bare, your world forgotten for a few hours. You emerge with a fresh perspective on your own existence whether you see side-splitting comedy or wrist-slitting drama.
The silo, under the guidance of Shane Bosher, always stages engaging and challenging productions. When the Rain Stops Falling is no exception.
The play spans a number of years and generations and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the characters stories will overlap in some way, but it will take you most of the length of the play to figure out the who's and how's, in what is in many ways as much a whodunit as it is a drama. Once you do figure out who is who, your reward comes in the smaller details of the costume and hair & make-up design as well as a myriad of almost unnoticable ticks, tells and clues from the actors.
The acting here is actually the key. With cast members playing the same characters at different points in their lives, sometimes on stage with "themselves" at the same time, the play would have fallen flat had it not been for superb performances from all of the actors involved. I'll say it again, they are fine, fine performances from every cast member.
In terms of the technical aspects of this play, it's one of the more complex I've seen in a long, long time. Falling props, digital projectors, snow, a fractured stage and a table and chairs requiring legs of different lengths are but a few of the tools and potential trip-wires the cast and crew have had to work with. Much like a jigsaw puzzle though, every piece seems to fit and the overall pictures will only work if each one is in it's right and proper place.
You can expect to laugh, but not often. You can expect to be confused, in fact going in with this belief should help to sharpen your senses. But most of all you can expect to enjoy theatre at it's best. Go and enjoy this beautiful view of an ashen world; the reward outweighs any doubts you may have.
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five fried fish
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