Lisa Maza - Abigail
Collin Smith - Eric
Roxanne McDonald - Nanna Lou
Ebony McGuire - Akira
Benjin Maza - Preston
You could say that the La Boite & Brisbane Festival Co-Production From Darkness is a tale about learning to love again, and that doesn’t only include rekindling the fire within a marital partnership but also not taking your family for granted. This wonderful piece of theatre goes to show that family is the ultimate strength and that we all need to remember to value each of the moments we have with our own kin. It might also be advised to carefully consider your actions before shutting life out, because sometimes it happens without us even realising and that’s the scary part.
Written by Steven Oliver and directed by Isaac Drandic, this heartfelt theatre goes above and beyond to highlight some very important messages. Not only does it reflect a complicated mish mash of family dynamics, but it also plays an important part in representation for Indigenous people. The talented cast includes Lisa Maza as ‘Mama Bear’ Abigail, Collin Smith as the jokester Dad Eric, Roxanne McDonald as the crazy ol’ Nanna Lou, Ebony McGuire as the moody Akira and Benjin Maza as the enigmatic Preston. Together, this fantastic cast light up the stage and not just with the help of the lighting technicians. Each of these characters brings in a flavour of their own, so let’s get stuck into each particular flavour so to speak.
Lisa Maza’s Abigail is in a world of her own. Not only is she struggling to connect with husband Eric, but she’s also struggling to connect with her Mother-in-Law and two children. This is due to Abigail shutting herself out from the world after the suicide of Vinnie, who is her son Preston’s twin brother. Suicide isn’t an easy topic to cover, but From Darkness handles the subject matter appropriately and most of all in a respectful way. Vinnie’s suicide ultimately highlights some particularly important themes in the performance and his spirit presents itself only to Akira and Preston, which helps further clarify themes in the narrative. Abigail struggles with the pain of this suicide and reaches for the bottle. Each character deals with their personal struggle differently and this is clearly presented on stage.
Collin Smith’s Eric relays Dad jokes and counteracts Nana Lou’s absurd remarks. The two are on point, and this is clearly shown when an argument starts up between Nana Lou, Abigail and Collin where Abigail and Nana Lou are clearly at war with one another. Much like the glue that holds the house together, and the people in it, Collin likes to keep the peace. Instead of taking to the bottle like Abigail, Collin instead shuts himself off emotionally and doesn’t allow himself to talk about or reflect on past horrors. Each character in the family can be seen handling the incident with varying coping mechanisms.
Roxanne McDonald’s Nanna Lou is the wildest of the bunch. Constantly cracking jokes and waiting to be let into Collin’s house so she can continue with a running commentary particularly regarding Abigail’s habits and taking to Jack Daniels. McDonald brings a lot of energy into the room with Nanna Lou and it’s safe to say the jokes were translating to the audience well. Cynical elder Nanna Lou brings the spirit of the theatre into action and sets the tone for the sense of humour. Ebony McGuire’s Akira likes texting on her phone and not much else. While Nanna Lou plays a more central part of the show, Akira wallows in the background and the audience are shown a teenager’s perspective of how to deal with a painful experience. Benjin Maza links the family together with a thread by playing Preston and through various spirit visits from Vinnie, highlighted through an impressive visual display on the wall, he becomes a wiser character than anyone once thought he was.
The stage is set up in two parts. The forefront of the stage features the living room and then there is a step that connects and links up to the top half of the stage where Preston’s bedroom is placed. I like the way the stage was constructed, and particularly the way that the spirit visitations were visually articulated through visual effects to depict an image of Preston’s twin brother towering over the bed. With Preston bottling himself up in his bedroom as a result of Vinnie’s passing, the performance highlights various examples of how to deal with a hard situation and each character is unique in the way that they go about withholding their pain.
This is a very well acted performance on all fronts. When a climactic argument arises in the family, it is clear to see that each cast member gives their all. Ultimately dealing with the pain of a suicide, what was once hidden comes to the surface at one point or another and the pain must be felt to be let go of. From Darkness highlights the beauty of family interconnectedness and feeling at home with the others in the room, and most importantly with yourself. Do not miss this show, you will be reminded of the important aspects of life.
7 - 28 Sept, 2019
La Boite Theatre
By: Joanna Letic