Unspoken by Rebecca Clarke. ANU Drama Department at The Street Theatre 2, directed by Catherine Mann. November 6-8, 7.30pm
It is a bitter-sweet irony that this 45 minute speech should be titled Unspoken. Originally a monologue, here the young woman who speaks to us about her childhood, her parents, her disabled brother, her falling in love and her coming to terms with the end of self-centred childishness, is presented by three young women - Lucy Hancock, Nicole Kerr and Isobel Nye.
The story itself is bitter-sweet. Teenage desire for sex lacks long-term fulfillment, while refusal to accept her younger sibling churns through feelings of guilt, becoming love at the point of his early death. At the age of these actors, this young woman grows up. The irony is that only as she becomes fully independent emotionally does she appreciate and feel real love for someone else. What had been spoken was a self-indulgent failure to understand. Talk is now no longer necessary.
I felt that Mann chose the right approach in not attempting a solo performance. ANU Drama is not a fully-fledged actor training course, and much more was gained by these three students as the light and shade of the words could be found in their three different voices, and movement could be choreographed, often showing us the conflicting feelings within the one character. The result is a kind of tone poem with a light touch and makes an engaging experience.
Rebecca Clarke trained under Peter Lavery at QUT, is already a published writer and successful actor and is obviously one to watch out for. This script shows promise of greater work to come.
©Frank McKone, Canberra
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