The Magnolia Tree

The Magnolia Tree
By Michael Griffith. Directed by Michael Griffith. Path2 Productions. The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. 14 - 17 February 2018

Three family members discover there are no easy solutions to the problem of their mother’s increasing dementia. Or perhaps there’s one? Dealing with an aging family member is an experience most of us will face at some point. Writer Michael Griffith takes this subject somewhere darker by pitting his characters against one another and playing with their foibles and desires. This interaction pushes the narrative into thriller territory.

Vicky (Ruth Katerelos) has devoted the last 11 years of her life caring for her increasingly disabled mother. She’s determined and stoic, and resentful that her siblings haven’t helped as much as they could have. Her sister, single mother Debra (Rohana Hayes), is idealistic, dreamy and naïve. Their brother Jack (Ezra Bix), pragmatic and blunt, is the one to first raise the possibility of euthanasia. As someone visiting periodically he has observed how over the years, the mother he knew had virtually vanished, and how caring for her had sapped the life from Vicky and driven wedges into all of their relationships. But he is remarkably manipulative – perhaps something he’s learned on the job as a real estate agent?

The dialogue is superbly written, sometimes with two interweaving threads of narrative, one character lost in reminiscence while another responds with rumination over the current dilemma. Family secrets and motivations are revealed. The characterisation for the most part is good, although there are moments when the action doesn’t quite match the mood or intensity of the dialogue, particularly earlier in the play.

Griffith uses one postmodern gimmick, which is to ask the audience to choose the ending. This has advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand it effectively requests of the audience to think about what they would do in a similar situation. On the other, it breaks the mood and removes mystery right at the climax. What is morally correct and what makes for the more dramatic ending are not necessarily the same thing. I would also have liked to have seen more of the practical and emotional consequences of the siblings’ choice, although the author was more concerned with the issues leading up to that decision.

If you like provocative and moving character driven drama, you’ll enjoy The Magnolia Tree.

Cathy Bannister

Image: Ruth Katerelos as Vicky. Photo by Michael Griffith.

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