Blue Italian & Nil by Sea

Swept Away by the Blue Sea...

These two short plays blend together into parallel tales of displaced persons in a world crisscrossed with barriers to entry. The setting of the first play, Blue Italian, is somewhere, anywhere, and the maze of caution signs and flashing orange lamps that make up the set (cleverly designed by Ben Brockman) immediately create an atmosphere of tension and caution leading to impenetrability. A girl (played by the very capable Alex Malone) approaches an entry point and is denied entry by a haranguing official (ably played by Nat Jobe). She tries and tries various ruses and tricks and eventually slips through. But we never know why or where she is. This mystery continues throughout the play and the pace and tensions continue to cook and rise. Why is our world divided like this? These divides seem to symbolise a larger problem of the lack of acceptance of alien people in sovereign nations. Seasoned actor Jennie Dibley provides an insightful commentary into this ongoing alienation. The lighting and movement provide constant visual interest.

The second play Nil by Sea deals with similar themes, when the body of a young man falls from the wheel well of a descending aircraft. His attempt to smuggle himself into our country fails dismally and he dies horribly when his body is smashed and split open on a suburban street.

This was a very interesting hour of theatre and very topical in this particular week given events in Indonesia. There was an issue with staging this performance in Leichhardt Town Hall because there is no rake to the rows of seats and with some of the action taking place on the floor it was very difficult for all but those in the front row to see these actors or to ascertain what was going on down there. Congratulations to Rachel Chant for her mysterious and interesting direction of Katie Pollock’s twin works.

Stephen Carnell

Assistant Director: Samantha Hickey

Set & Lighting Design: Benjamin Brockman

Production Manager: Shane Addison

Cast: Alex Malone, Jennie Dibley, Nat Jobe, Sarah Meacham