Closure

Canadian based English writer Ron Blicq got the idea for Closure when he heard a BBC radio documentary about men and women in the UK whose mothers had a relationship with Canadian servicemen during World War 2 and who now wanted to find their fathers to seek ‘closure.’ Blicq drew on his experience as a navigator in WW2 flying in Mosquito fighter/bombers with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Donald Barlow has discovered his father is still alive and seeks help from a Dutch agency to find him against the wishes of his wife Daphne. Donald’s daughter Claire, a journalist, embarks on a “Where Are They Now” magazine series and in so doing meets her grandfather, Gordon Devereaux, and his wife Helen, in Canada, and with the help of her son, Gordie, begins to get him to open up about his WW2 experiences. Later both story strands coalesce with Donald meeting his father for the first time. The plot allows plenty of opportunities for feelings and emotion to surface, but the writing is not strong enough and the play’s emotional arc is never fully realised. It’s a docu-drama and feels more like the effort of a first time writer. The exposition of flying and planes is far from seamlessly introduced into the dialogue, and the first-act curtain was a non-event.

Concerned young mother and tenacious career woman sat comfortably in the hands of Simone-Marse Dixon as Claire, the journalist daughter, whose performance was the best in the show. Matching her in strength was Debra K. Chambers who brought warmth and depth to the Canadian wife Helen. Reghan Hobby, making his on-stage debut, gave life to the live-wire 9-year-old boy Gordie, whose fascination with planes helps him bond with his grandfather. Old-stager Kurt A. Lerps had his moments as the irascible grandfather, while Patrick Leo came across as a bit lightweight as the indecisive Donald. Rhonda Wood’s Daphne was pallid, but Erik de Wit’s Dutch agency man, Paul, was earnest with an authentic sounding accent.

The action moved between two living-room full-stage sets, one in Nottingham, and one in Vancouver, which was ingeniously achieved on the small stage by the use of two revolves, but the scene changes did take time and Gary Kliger’s directional pace suffered.

The author flew from his home in Winnipeg, Canada, for Centenary’s production, which was the Australian Premiere.

Peter Pinne

Images: Erik de Wit as Hoogstra and Kurt A Lerps as Gordon Devereaux & Reghan Hobby as Gordie and Kurt A. Lerps as Gordon Devereaux. Photographer: Dan Ryan.