REVIEW: Blood On The Wattle confronts climate change, the plight of refugees, and party politics
Geoff Sykes’ play Blood On The Wattle, which he also directs, is a three-hander with plenty to say about the big issues confronting Australia today – issues like climate change, the plight of refugees, and party politics.
At the centre is Federal member for “Western Slopes”, Karl Matters, played with disturbing realism by Ken Welsh.
He is a creature of the Country First party in every way except one: he disagrees with the party line on the issue of climate change, and this is causing him some angst as he is facing pre-selection.
Kloud Milas plays his loyal staffer, the righthand woman Louise Patterson, who tries to keep her boss on track when he deviates, which he does – a lot.
Matters is thrown a curved ball when he meets Vania, played with passionate conviction by Befrin Axtjärn Jackson, whose Kurdish parents fled Iran and settled in Sweden where Befrinwas born.
Vania works at a local farm, presumably in the lowly job of picking fruit, when Matters meets her, and he is so taken by her that he offers her a job in his office.
In his intense exchanges with Vania, Matters discovers that she was a refugee.
His obsessive questions about her past lead to her dramatic meltdown, which we take to be a re-living of a terrible trauma from her past, possibly rape.
Sykes’ play throws up numerous issues and deals with them in short scenes that move speedily on to the next, leaving you with many unanswered questions.
His surprising ending, which stretches the bounds of credibility to breaking point, represents Sykes’ political ideals and aspirations rather than the reality of Australia’s rough and tumble public life.
Nonetheless, here is a playwright attempting to deal with current political issues and giving us plenty to think about.
Until Apr 9. Chippen Street Theatre, 45 Chippen St, Chippendale. $25-$38+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.chippenstreet.com
