Driven to New Pastures

As we assemble in the Downstairs Theatre foyer, the cast and crew of this highly agreeable one act Festival offering greet us with cups of tea and slices of cake. And the homely atmosphere continues inside as writer/director/performer Rosie Dennis chats to a surprisingly full house.

In what is essentially a low-key, naturalistic monologue, she first tries to sell us a ghastly apartment in the proposed ‘lifestyle’ suburb of New Gladeview. Then she switches focus to the last days for residents of Number 3, Waratah Avenue, Old Gladeview. Now she’s the socially-aware wife of a musician (Jackson Harrison, wistfully playing an onstage piano). She tells us about the four other families facing imminent eviction from Number 3 and we meet Sarah, the oldest resident, the one most likely to be devastated by forced removal to a far-flung suburb.

The two women have formed a bond: they chat, drink tea and dance together in Sarah’s lounge room. Sarah is charmingly inhabited by elderly June Hickey, making her acting debut. She’s hardly acting at all, really; just being. Her unaffected presence works a treat, constantly reminding us of the human reality of such urban ‘renewals’, ‘relocations’ and ‘lifestyle offers’.

It’s an unstrident piece, full of cheeky humanity. It doesn’t preach. What is likely to remain is the memory of the young woman and the old woman sadly, fondly dancing in the condemned lounge room.

Frank Hatherley

Photos: Heidrun Löhr