Blue Italian and Nil By Sea (Review)

Katie Pollock’s companion plays cleverly speak to each other of the human need for safety and belonging. A privileged young woman sets out to ‘find herself’, and an African man seeking asylum falls out of an aircraft wheelbay onto a suburban street below. Together they are gently unsettling.

Rachel Chant’s direction is deft and light, making the most of the beauty of Pollock’s phrasing. The cast bring a youthful zest to an otherwise weighty subject, with Alex Malone a standout.

Benjamin Brockman’s staging is genius. Rather than fight an awkward space Brockman and Chant have turned it around, so the audience enters through barricades at the rear with the cast already in place. Sound and lighting is simple yet foreboding, with some clever touches. The ghostly rotating ceiling fans draw the audience’s eyes upward and the carefully timed arrival of aircraft overhead, bound for Sydney Airport, brings an eerie quality to the soundscape.

Until 17 May, (Wednesday – Saturday, 8:00pm, Sunday 6pm), Leichhardt Town Hall, Cnr. Marin and Norton Street, Leichhardt, $20-30, Tickets: www.trybooking.com/hfho