14 Nov-12 Dec 2020
Billie Brown Theatre
Dr Gemma Regan
It was with great excitement and relief that the Queensland Theatre returned to the Billie Brown Theatre at full capacity this week, due to the recent changes in social distancing rules. The opening night of The Holidays by David Megarrity started with speeches in the foyer, with QT’s Artistic Director Lee Lewis describing the last nine months as “the long road back to returning to normal” whilst in her first year in the role. Queensland Theatre is also celebrating 50 years of making connections with the audience through live theatre, with a ten year road map focussing on telling more First Nation Stories.
The World premiere of The Holidays was already a winner, as it won the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award for 2018-2019, out of more than 90 competitors. Director Bridget Boyle is also an award-winner for The Longest-Minute.
The three-character play has a simple beach shack setting and highlighted the underlying relationships between father and son. Oliver Holiday is a 12-year old dreamer, full of life and imagination. A much older Matthew Ianna portrayed the character expertly in his debut with Queensland Theatre, and is a local trained at Kelvin Grove State College and the Queensland Theatre Acting Academy. The audience was transported to the sandy shore, when Oliver broke the fourth wall in the opening minutes by encouraging the audience to mimic the sounds of the sea. It highlighted the value of live theatre and was a lovely genuine moment shared between the audience and actors.
Bob (Bryan Probets: Hydra, Twelfth Night) and Summer Holiday (Louise Brehmer: The Longest Minute, Australia Day) are Oliver’s stressed out parents who temporarily move to Bob’s father’s beach shack for a “holiday”, to visit Grandad who is hospitalised after a stroke. Despite the play being littered with Dad jokes, The Holiday was sad, poignant and thought-provoking. The focus is on the importance of creating and sharing family memories. Oliver acts as the narrator, a lonely, introspective boy musing on the recognition of self, through fantasy as he plays alone on the beach. On each visit, Oliver welcomes his driftwood stick and a sand outline of himself, and asks the audience to mimic the waves for him, which was a lovely touch.
The use of iconic music, such as the Go-Betweens and Billie Holiday played on an iPod and an old record-player, illustrated the timelessness of experiences where the theme may differ, but the nature of past memories is universal. The unique cutting-edge projection screens, designed by Nathan Sibthorpe in his QT debut, were shaped as picture frames in Grandad’s shack. Each acted as windows sharing the perspective and memories of each character, and giving glimpses of family memories of Grandad.
David Megarrity’s The Holidays highlights the value of brief moments shared within families whilst challenging our perspectives of Australian culture and making the most of live theatre. The 2021 program promises seven MainStage productions of love, laughter, tragedy and triumph, and above all connection.