Anatomy of a Suicide

A forensic analysis of a family with a history of suicide is difficult subject matter. But at a time when mental health is foremost in our minds, Metro Arts has taken up the challenge to deal with difficult subject matter. Anatomy of a Suicide by award-winning British writer, Alice Birch, is a trio of plays in one. It deals boldly with themes of mental illness, the pressures of motherhood, post-natal depression, drug use, sexuality and suburbia by spinning three interweaving stories with three central female characters. The emotional DNA of a household is reinforced by most of the action taking place in the same family home in three different decades: the 1970s, the 1990s and 2030s. We see Carol (Elise Greig) as a new mother and then as a grandmother as her daughter, Anna (Rebecca Alexander) brings her own child, Bonnie (Zoe Houghton) into the unsettled world.

It promises a rich mix, and the piece is written from academic studies in suicide at Oxford University, rather than from personal experience. As a result, the triptych form takes over from the story and distances the direct emotional connection - which is a very British thing indeed. It reads a bit like a millennial version of an Alan Ayckbourn script - rather than encapsulated dedicated time shifts where you can get to know each character, the dialogue overlaps and the stories take place at the same time, with Pinteresque pauses, underwritten by constant repetition of 'Yes', 'No', 'I'm fine', often by the three women at the same time. It's a very tense take on 'Keep Calm and Carry On', which often dilutes the emotional connection to the performers in the first part of the play.

Director Catarina Hebbard has wrangled the overlapping action which settles in the second half of the just-under-two-hour-long one-act script, and the actors' relief was palpable. I appreciated the last half more because it gave breathing space to some excellent performances by 10 talented Brisbane-based actors who would all be just as at home on the stage at the Royal Court in London where this play premiered.

Elise Greig tackles the difficult Carol who sets the emotional tone for her offspring to come. As her daughter, Anna, Rebecca Alexander portrays the confusion and chaos of a person who has grown up without her mother. As Bonnie, the grandchild/daughter, Zoe Houghton portrays emotional coldness and distant expertly while also capturing the play's most tender and heart-breaking moment - her facial expression of relief and desperate sadness as she makes the decisions that will break the family's tragic line is beautiful and moving.  

Adding much-needed humour and light are Astrid Wells Cooper and Jodie Le Vesconte in a variety of superb roles, and the vivacious Triona Giles as young characters, Daisy and the young Anna. It is such a joy to watch these actresses together on the intimate New Benner stage. More please, ladies! The men's parts in this play are underwritten as mostly supporting, bewildered characters, but nevertheless it is satisfying to catch the strong stage presence of Daniel Murphy, Stephen Geronimos, Tom Yaxley and Nikhil Singh.

Some of the emotional pivot points happen on a thin screen that traverses the stage - courtesy of a digital design by Jeremy Gordon situated in a neat stage setting by Raymond Milner with lighting by Christine Felmingham and sound design by Phil Hagstrom in a collaboration that gives this piece a strong style.

Despite my misgivings, at the end of the play, the characters continue to haunt - mainly because of the strength of the performances. It's the effect of staring at a printout of a DNA 'barcode', its imprint stays on your mind. Perhaps this is what Birch was striving for all along, with her play 'score' an anthem to the women and their issues of mental health.

Presented by Metro Arts and BC Productions Qld in association with e.g and Big Scary Animal, Anatomy of a Suicide continues until the end of May: https://metroarts.com.au/anatomy-of-a-suicide/

Beth Keehn

Photographer: Nick Morrissey @nickmorrisseypix