Fireface

Hot Siblings

Dysfunctional families can spark internal hatred, be the catalyst of abhorrent behaviour and ignite abnormal desire. Fireface has all of these and more… A brother and sister love and desire each other a little too much and their parents don’t love each other at all. And they all co-exist in a tightly packed tinder-box of a home which forces feeds fiery conflict and a final conflagration.

Such a story requires depth, finesse and a slow fuse to be convincing, but Fireface burns too fast and the emotional triggers fail to ignite a clear understanding of what lies behind the surface of the children’s loneliness, sibling desire and the overall passion for destruction.

The progress and the core of the story were hard to access, even though the play ran for an hour and forty minutes without an interval. Acting was variable, with several actors shouting or merely speaking their lines and other delivering convincingly with passion and intent. The brilliant Lucy Miller was disappointing. But James Lugton and Ryan Bennett were outstanding and an entire cast of this calibre would have carried the play over the uneven surface of this story.

The set is simple and wonderful. A plain white square on the floor, supporting a family dining table and four chairs and capped by what appears to be a white bed of nails hanging over all their heads. This sets the tone and the lighting was also very effective in focusing and containing the intense emotions of the play. Unfortunately, the sound design was extremely loud and jarring and felt like it belonged in a schlock horror movie rather than in this intense family drama.

It did seem that a drama focused on incest and pyromania needed more passion, sex and some real fire.

Stephen Carnell

Photographer: Phyllis Wong.

Director: Luke Rogers

Producer: Peter Gahan

Designer: Lucilla Smith

Lighting Designer: Sian James-Holland

Sound Designer: Nate Edmondson

Cast: Ryan Bennett, Darcy Brown, James Lugton, Lucy Miller and Darcie Irwin-Simpson.