MOTHER

By Diana Simmonds

October 9 2016

MOTHER, If Theatre and Regional Arts Victoria touring nationally; seen at The Joan, Penrith, 8 October 2016. Photographs: Noni Hazlehurst

Daniel Keene is one of our most admired playwrights. The French think so highly of him, a couple of weeks ago they made him a Chevalier de L'ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He’s been winning literary awards for his work since 1989, but it’s still difficult to find it in Sydney (he’s a Melburnian, that surely can’t be the reason...). 

This one-woman play – written for and starring Noni Hazlehurst – is no exception. While playing to sold-out houses all over the country on an extensive national tour, the closest it has come to Sydney city is The Joan at Penrith and, from 12-15 October, at Illawarra PAC, Wollongong.

Mother is a tough, funny, poetic, tragic, unsentimental 70 minutes in the company of Christy, a cranky, sardonic woman who might not be as old as circumstances have made her. Hard times, past nightmares and too much booze have made her unsteady on her feet but clear-eyed and unimpressed by the society that has discarded her.

Got up in discarded clothes that have not quite fallen apart yet and grubby as a newly-dug potato, Christy is surrounded by meagre belongings that can barely be distinguished from the detritus of city streets. (Set and costume design: Kat Chan, lighting design Tom Willis.) 

After yelling at noisy crows that seem intent on mocking her (beautiful sound design: Darius Kedros), Christy begins to tell her story – of acidic conversations with her husband Lenny that ripple and run like a tributary of Joyce. The scene shifts to a street, signalled by falling rain and footsteps passing nearby. 

“I’ve got nothing,” she says. “I never had much but I’ve got nothing now / for some people that’s as good as me being a criminal / the looks I get are terrible / I have to turn away / I don’t know what my face must look like / I hope it doesn’t look like I feel...”

Such small moments of truth glitter like shafts of light in the darkness of Christy’s life and surrounds. The long ago death of her infant son is related obliquely and without self pity, but the particulars of it are clear to her listeners, although quite how and why are not. She is tragic but not pathetic. Beaten but not defeated. The domino incidents that crashed into each other to bring her to this point are so commonplace and likely it is terrifying: there but for the grace...

Director Matt Scholten has a long and rich history with Daniel Keene and his work and has also previously directed Noni Hazlehurst. Scholten clearly understands the nuances and rhythms of the work and has the confidence of the performer. The result is a seamless, fragile, intelligent and tough performance from an actress at the top of her game.

Mother is a play and Hazlehurst’s is a performance not to be missed. Catch it if and where you can.