Brisbane

Brisbane 1942 – Macarthur has arrived, the Brisbane line has been drawn, the Japanese have bombed Darwin, and there’s terror in the streets, a battle royal between Aussie Diggers and Yanks. This is the fertile background for Matthew Ryan’s sweet coming-of-age story Brisbane, which centres on a 14-year-old boy Danny and his best friend Patty.

Danny is a dreamer, a writer, and in awe of his big brother Frank, a RAAF pilot. Patty is the same age, wears a calliper on her right leg and a pubescent glow. They’re soul-mates and during the course of the play puppy-love turns to the real thing.

The role of Danny requires an actor of range and experience, and Dash Kruck has buckets of both. It’s his finest performance – funny, honest and emphatically truthful. He negotiates the adolescent terrain with acute and brilliant recognition, and is emotionally moving in the final moments. As his counterpart Patty, Harriet Dyer brings firecracker energy to the part, a ferocious but funny dirty mouth, and enormous charisma. She’s a delight.

Conrad Coleby does double-duty as the older brother Frank, and the American pilot Andy. In both roles he’s solid, sympathetic and believable, likewise Lucy Goleby as Rose, the girl who gets involved with both characters. Veronica Neave breaks your heart as the bereaved mother Annie, while Hayden Spencer’s father, John is brutally confronting. The rest of the ensemble cast; Matthew Backer, Daniel Murphy, and Hugh Parker deserve plaudits for their multiple vignettes of soldiers, dignitaries, and politicians.

Iain Sinclair’s direction was fluid and particularly striking in the Cloudland/Dance Hall scenes with a nice balletic flair achieved by having the female dancer on trapeze wires. The use of recordings by the Andrew Sisters and Glenn Miller quickly and effectively established the period. Stephen Curtis’ set was big, filled the stage, but to my mind was a bit too solid and real for a play that dealt in poetic images, fragments of emotions and ghosts of the past.

Peter Pinne     

Photographer: Rob Maccoll.