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Fracture

Gripping domestic drama raises questions of traumatic grief, happiness and identity.
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Image: blueroom.org.au 

Charlie is not keen to sleep. When he does pass out on the couch, vivid dreams haunt him and wake him with their intensity. Luckily, he has two caring housemates, Clara and Tom, to look after him. It’s nearly a year since tragedy struck and he left Sydney to hide away in Perth, and he ignores his phone when his ex-girlfriend rings. Grace is not so easily dissuaded, though, and after three months of no answer to her calls, tracks him down in person. Her request to return home with her sounds good to Charlie, but creates new tensions between the housemates.

Without wanting to spoil the carefully spaced twists, lies, secrets, hints and revelations that mark this narrative, it is hard to do justice to the subtle precision of the direction and acting. As Charlie, Paul Grabovac has a wonderful repertoire of gloomy faces, slumped posture and vacant gazes. The contrast between these and his delight, then angst, when spending time with Grace is marked and effective. Mikala Westall as Clara is fascinating, so caring and concerned as to cross the line to possessive and domineering. Her manipulation of the slight gradations of emotions is remarkable, as is her uncanny control when “replaying” an earlier scene with her cast mates. Grace is played by Salacia Briggs, who overcomes a halting start to her performance to demonstrate the intense emotional states demanded by her role. Her personal physical control is the key to success of the revelations of true nature of the various characters’ relationships, which she accomplishes admirably. James Marzec brings Tom to stage with incorrigible flippancy, a counterbalance to the emotional focus of the other characters. Marzec keeps things light, even as he joins Clara in reminding Charlie of his reliance on his housemates, a welcome presence in the midst of so much intense soul searching, effectively capturing the classic “annoying mate” of so many shared homes.

Patrick Howe’s set grabs the eye and dominates the space, a mediocre enough kitchen-dining-living area of a small flat. The walls surrounding it on all sides set the narrative apart from the audience, presenting a boxed life for observation. As the lighting shifts it sometimes picks out the subtle fleur de lis paint work on the walls, hinting at wallpaper and fully establishing the atmosphere of shabby domesticity. Director Joe Lui makes his musical score a subtle but integral part of the performance, with distinct, delicate themes accompanying separate strands of the narrative.

A beautifully executed ensemble work, with precise staging allowing hidden themes and startling narrative twists to emerge gently, allowing audience members to make their own realisations at their own pace. The individual control of each of the actors is vital and believable, and painstaking preparation pays off. Fracture is writer Lucy Clement’s promising debut, an intricate, thoughtful drama with compelling theatrical hooks and gimmicks displaying its insight into humans and their emotional entanglements.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Fracture

By Lucy Clements
Presented by The Blue Room Theatre and New Ghosts
Director, Sound & Lighting Designer: Joe Lui
Co-Producer, Marketing & Publicity: Harriet Roberts
Set & Costume Design: Patrick Howe
Stage Manager: Daley King
Performed by Salacia Briggs, Paul Grabovac, James Marzec and Mikala Westall

The Blue Room Theatre, Perth
22 – 27 June 2015

Nerida Dickinson
About the Author
Nerida Dickinson is a writer with an interest in the arts. Previously based in Melbourne and Manchester, she is observing the growth of Perth's arts sector with interest.