Death in Bowengabbie

Overview

There is something in the water in Adelaide. Strange things are happening with theatre there: it's hilarious and down to earth, but somehow revealing and vibrant at the same time. By all accounts, playwrights are venturing out of their dark, lonely rooms and collaborating with actors. Whatever it's about, the experiment is yielding stunning results: floogle's Ollie and the Minotaur that played at Belvoir Downstairs last year is unquestionable evidence of this.

So, actually, is this offering from writer/director Caleb Lewis. Death in Bowengabbie tackles all the big issues: life, death, romance and the decline of the small rural Australian town. Lewis asks much of his only actor Andrew Brackman — who not only embodies all this on his own but constantly switches between various character and narrator roles. Utilising a style of humour reminiscent of the best American indie films, Brackman paces himself well for a demanding performance.

Verity Hampton's design provides great support for Brackman. The stage, somehow clean and chaotic at once, contains carefully chosen objects that anyone who has visited an Australian country town will respond to. Empty jam jars, overflowing with not-too-obvious symbolism, work well with the lighting to create varied and powerful modes. However the script itself, as is well-recognised, is the key to this production. Brilliant references work exactly as planned, moments are sketched with warm affection and a delicate touch, and the plot, in straying between the realistic and the fantastic, takes us beyond our expectations to a restful resolution.

Image by Joseph Couch.