ALIEИATION

As patrons enter the auditorium to see Perth Theatre Company’s ALIEИATION, they find a note on their seats.

“Note from Lachlan Philpot

I would like to acknowledge the people who bravely shared their stories and the actors and creative artists who contributed to this work in good faith.

However, the outcome of this production does not reflect my original, scripted or communicated intentions as the playwright.”

Originally billed as the author of this work, Lachlan Philpot’s name does not appear in the program.

Whatever the author’s reservations, this is an interesting and very watchable show. An eclectic conglomeration of styles, there are elements of Brechtianism combined with surrealist elements, what I assume is verbatim dialogue, mixed with actor (?) observation and use of actor’s real names merged with quite meaningful, intense characterisations of real people.

The performers begin the play in white overalls of the sort worn by painters, forensic cleaners and possibly alien investigators. These are shed for elements of realistic costuming as we move through the intertwined stories of three separate alien abductions.

Luke Hewitt plays an actor called Luke and a man called Brian, who struggles after being abducted by aliens and who is met by skepticism from his wife Tiffany (Naomi Hanbury). Robert Jago also plays an actor that may or may not be himself and another abductee, while Natalie Holmwood also appears as a sort of self and an abductee called Katherine.

The stories are fascinating, the characters feel genuine and although they do not expect to be believed there is a strong message that the storytellers are speaking with conviction and that for them, they are genuine. Natalie Holmwood’s Katherine, in particular, has a gorgeous self-deprecating demeanor that gives her story a ring of truth.

 “Alienating” us from the stories are the clichéd yet clever and appropriate “space style” set, by Bruce McKinven and lighting designer’s Benjamin Cisterne’s stark and intense lighting design. The element of folly does not detract from the stories or the interesting nature of the play itself.

Very well performed, this is a show that raises more questions than it answers and I am sure leaves every viewer with a different message. As the closing lines of the play state, ‘this is only the beginning’. While I can’t begin to imagine which elements have alienated Lachlan Philpott from this work, I can say that it is a show worth seeing.

Kimberley Shaw

Photographer: Richard Jefferson