That Eye, The Sky

Here’s a quintessentially Australian play. That Eye, the Sky is based on a Tim Winton novel and was adapted for the stage by Richard Roxburgh and Justin Monjos. Its initial production in 1994 starred David Wenham and Hugo Weaving.

“We have have an older actor playing the 13-year-old character of Ort Flak. Wenham was 28 at the time, so it has a long history of being played by an older actor,” explained David Burrowes, the play’s director. “The work is quite complex, it’s a bold, enigmatic work and it’s beautiful Australian writing. We have drawn quite heavily on the novel. Winton writes so beautifully and that language has quite seamlessly and delicately been transformed into dialogue, making it appropriate for a theatrical performance.”

That Eye, The Sky is a beautiful coming of age story about Ort, a young boy whose father is seriously injured in a car crash. The common theme is the idea of survival, that we need something to hang on to that helps us survive when everything goes to hell. The family finds God, some sort of transcendental power. The play explores this and asks the question, ‘how helpful is it?’ There’s definitely a discussion about spirituality and some strong religious themes.

That Eye, The Sky is an exploration in how we cope, and how we reach out to something to help us cope. In some instances that’s God, sometimes it’s something darker like alcohol or drugs.

Everything is seen through the eyes of a child. There’s this curiosity, he sees the world in this fantastic way.

“The genre is Australian drama. It’s set in a small country town, Subiaco, in Western Australia. It has a very strong Australian sense to it all. Tim Winton is one of our great Australian writers. It’s present in every single character, in every line, every moment. It’s an Australian work from bottom to top,” added Burrowes. (MS)

Mar 15–Apr 16 (Thurs-Sat 7.30pm, Sun 5pm). New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown. $17-$32. Tickets & info: newtheatre.org.au

BY MEL SOMERVILLE