Fatherland

Fatherland is presented by the male WAAPA Third Year Acting Students and is designed, built and crewed by WAAPA Production and Design Students. Presented in tandem with the female students’ production of The Wolves, and played in the same venue, Fatherland is directed with style by Shane Anthony.

Sharing a set design with its sibling production, Fatherland looks and feels like what might be a community theatre space, shared with multiple activities (we see the basketball lines on the floor) complete with utilitarian tables and plastic chairs. Costuming by Lani Robinson, simple but very appropriate, allows for easy movement, and simple additions and subtractions help with character transitions. Lighting designer Dusan Nikora makes some striking design choices, with great sound design from Brendan Dietrich.

Fatherland is verbatim theatre taken to a new level, as we see three sons begin the process of writing a play about fathers. We essentially see the interviews, done in each of the playwrights’ home towns, turned into physical theatre - and the physicality is excellent with smooth teamwork from the cast of nine (this was originally written for a cast of 13, so the actors are kept busy).

Authors Scott Graham, Karl Hyde and Simon Stephens are played by Will Snow Lonsdale, Tyler Redman (who also pulls a significant doubling) and Donne Ngabo - who anchor the show well and give credence to the project. 

The interviewees are kicked off by Harry Gilchrist as Luke, querying the project, with Alex Kirwan, James McMahon, Jesse Vasilidis, Joseph Baldwin, and Tyren (Tre) Maclou all creating characters with immediate impact and credibility.

Ultimately this is an ensemble piece, and the teamwork displayed as the actors move together and sing together is very impressive.

A challenging piece of personal theatre that has been adopted by this team and turned into their own, Fatherland is a great showcase of WAAPA’s performing and production talent.

Kimberley Shaw

Photographer: Stephen Heath