From the Rubble

Perth Theatre Company's From the Rubble is an extremely visual piece of theatre, inspired by stories from Western Australian journalist Sophie McNeill, about her experiences in the Middle East.

With minimal dialogue, we are transported to the war-zones of the Middle East, in a multimedia production that includes some verbatim theatre, with a variety of theatrical forms, including paper sculpture, puppetry, mask work, shadow puppetry, projections, animation, film, movement and song among others.

Three live performers, Tina Torabi, Mikalla Westall and Mei Saraswati (in her theatrical debut), play three unnamed young women living in the middle of a war-zone, who provide a connectable human insight into the conflict. They work well as an ensemble and are adept in working in a variety of mediums. We also see and hear the familiar face and voice of real-life Nine News reporter Tracy Vo, whose unusually presented experiences add elements of familiarity and authoritative realism.

Visually intriguing courtesy of director Melissa Cantwell, visual designer Fleur Elise Noble and audio-visual technician Mia Holton, audio elements are not ignored, with strong and effective sound design by John Lui and emotive composition by Lui and actor Saraswati.

While captivating to watch, this production is not for everyone. Those wanting a strong narrative may be disappointed. Much of the early action takes place on the floor, which may isolate those unable to see this portion (sight-lines for shorter patrons seated further back in the auditorium are not good). Dialogue in the initial scenes, while perhaps not essential to understanding, was difficult to hear.

A clever and creative concept that effectively explores a plethora of visual theatre forms.

Kimberley Shaw

Photographer: Jon Green