Mark Colvin’s Kidney

The story of one of the ABC’s most distinguished journalists - and how he received a kidney donation from an incredibly unlikely source - is a very unusual one for the stage. But Australian theatre has matured so much in recent years that these types of challenges are embarked upon with gusto. The results are fine indeed.

Playwright Tommy Murphy has had great success with the stage adaptation of Holding the Man, as well as Gwen in Purgatory. Here, he was given a brief by Belvoir’s artistic director Eamon Flack for “a play that is local and global”. It explores the problems and opportunities provided by modern communication and technology, as well as ethics, in the media but more personally too.

While the title Mark Colvin’s Kidney suggests a simple idea, this work is quite complex. A lot of it concerns the donor rather than the recipient of the kidney and the remarkable choice she made. What happened to her was astonishing: Mary-Ellen Field is an Australian business consultant who worked in London for model Elle Macpherson. As the play recounts, Field’s career came crashing down when Macpherson blamed her for leaking to the British press. It’s since emerged that Macpherson’s phone was hacked by the News of the World.

This background provides a possible motive, at least in part, for Field’s remarkable generosity to the Australian broadcaster. She was interviewed about phone hacking by Colvin for his radio program ‘PM’. An odd and prickly friendship developed, at least as portrayed here.

Murphy’s play has a documentary feel to it. Surtitles explain the time and place of each scene, tweets and text messages are shown, news clips from the hacking scandal played, radio interviews recreated. There are also moments that aren’t real - perhaps the funniest part of the play never happened (as we are informed by a surtitle as the scene finishes).

Director David Berthold keeps the pace fast and cleverly stages quick scenes from hospital beds and moments of war to offices and radio booths. The design by Michael Hankin, is simple but effective.

Sarah Peirse plays Field and is, as always, indomitable. She is one of our finest stage actresses - astonishing in Joanna Murray-Smith’s Switzerland; here, commanding once more.

John Howard is canny as Colvin, not impersonating him but truly recreating this giant on stage. He is often brusque but always likeable. The supporting cast is brilliant too: Peter Carroll, Kit Esuruoso, Helen Thomson and Christopher Stollery play a number of roles each, often with good humour.

This is a serious play with a light and sometimes comic edge. It traverses many areas but doesn’t dig deeply: its insights into personal and professional ethics are somewhat superficial. But the astonishing plot is told with flair and acted so well. It’s quite an achievement.

Peter Gotting

Photographer: Brett Boardman