Wolf Lullaby by Hilary Bell. Centrepiece Theatre directed by Jordan Best at The Street Theatre Studio, July 27–29, August 2–5 and 9–12 at 7:30pm.
Matinées: August 6 at 5pm and August 12 at 2pm. Tickets: $20–$25. Special rates for members, students, U27, Wednesdays and matinées.
Wolf Lullaby is a little over an hour long. Based quite closely on the 1968 British case of 11-year-old murderer Mary Bell, I was reminded of the short stories of James Joyce in Dubliners. There is a concentrated intensity which builds characters and explores their relationships until an end point is reached artistically. However this does not mean that the author provides us with simple answers to real life questions like, in this play, how can parents accept that their 9-year-old has killed a 2-year-old child?
Best’s direction focuses on the steady progression of the story through the eyes of the murderer, Lizzie, her separated parents Angela and Warren, and the policeman, Ray. The pacing is deliberately slow, demanding our attention – the right choice I think.
The actors each rise to the demands made of them, as has been the case in previous Centrepiece productions. Tain Stangret creates a very believable 9-year-old whose fantasy and fears combine in the act of killing. Jim Adamik’s ordinary working-man character struggles with the complexity of feelings and distrust in reality which Veronica Merton creates very effectively in Angela, while Jay Sullivan as the policeman required to find and have the child admit to the truth shows us the frustrations caused by the limitations of his official position and those of his personality.
The result is tragedy on a personal scale, something like what James Joyce called an epiphany – a new brief glimpse into an aspect of life, put into focus for us by the artist. It doesn’t explain the unexplainable, but now the world is a little different for the experience.
The design and execution of the visual and especially the audio setting enhance the actors’ work very well. Another Centrepiece production which I highly recommend.
© Frank McKone, Canberra
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