Hello, Goodbye & Happy Birthday

There’s a certain delight in not knowing what you are going to see at the theatre. It’s that special tingle of anticipation in advance and the sense of exhilaration after a performance that sets live theatre apart from all other forms of entertainment.

One of the hits of Melbourne’s 2014 Arts Festival, this little show with its stellar cast and high concepts is poignant, charming, humorous, reflective, humane and an all round delightful piece of theatre.

Director Roslyn Oades has constructed the piece from real audio recordings (complete with loss of train of thought, interruptions, crosstalk, pauses) of real people, interviewed at different times. It’s a series of moments in the lives of the very young (eighteen) with the entire world ahead of them, and the very old (80 plus) who know that any day could be their last.  The cast wears headphones and repeats (but never parrotlike) the words of the original interviewees. It is docudrama at its finest…or perhaps more like a finely skilled orchestra interpreting a quintessential arrangement of a familiar song. It’s clever, inventive, truthful, and it works.

Oades has assembled an exemplary set of actors to bring these tiny moments of existence to life, and they do so with clarity and truth, creating a deep, emotional connection with the audience.

Three of our finest older thespians – the marvellous Evelyn Krape, the whimsical Roger Oakley, and the commanding Jim Daly have over a century in theatre between them, so it isn’t surprising that they are superb throughout. But here’s the twist. Oades cleverly has given the roles of the eighteen year olds to the older actors and saved the stories of the octagenarians for the younger cast members … and what an astonishing array of perfomances they give us.

Matthew Connell is staggeringly good in his portrayal of a rambling old man who has lost his wife and himself ends up in a home. For all of us at a certain age it is a portent of our worst fears for the time we have left. Connell’s empathy and unguarded truth comes with overwhelming conviction which touches the humanity in all of us. This is truly fine acting that brings a lump to the throat.

Aileen Huynh and Izabella Yema are hysterically funny yet touching as 95 and 96 year-old inmates of ethnic extraction who can barely follow their own train of thought, let alone someone else’s.

As for Krape, in knee high stockings and garish sandals – a typical woman of advanced years; to see her play an 18 year old musing on whether she’s been dumped is a treat no-one should miss.

Oakley and Daly bring all their stage charisma and physicality to a performance which blurs the lines between youth and decay and subliminally emphasises that age is simply a number, not a definition.

The company is entering the second half of a regional round Australia tour. I’d urge everyone young and old – not just theatre lovers – to see this inspirational show. It will re-affirm…wherever you are on the age spectrum, that life is never over till it’s over.

Coral Drouyn