|
Disappearing Act
15th May 2008
By Sean Bryan
Hoy Polloy is an independent Melbourne theatre company, which aims
to produce new contemporary
theatre that is entertaining as well as being able to challenge and
resonate a message to their audience.
Their latest production of award winning British Playwright Fin
Kennedy’s play
‘How To Disappear Completely And Never Be Found’ continues to fulfil
the company’s philosophy
as well as introduce the works of Kennedy to a new theatrical
audience here in Australia.
 The
play
(winner of the Arts Council England John Whiting Award for New
Writing in 2005) tackles the idea of what makes us who we are in the
21st century. The play centres around Charlie, a young
executive, as he tries to disappear posing the question: if we
change our names, our clothes or addresses can we escape who we
truly
are?
Part surreal, part black comedy and a profound human tragedy ‘How to
Disappear Completely And Never Be Found’ was described by the
Sheffield Star as “the sort of thrilling new work that
completely restores your faith in theatre” and has received similar
praise in England from The Guardian and The Times.
Wayne Pearn, Artistic Director of Hoy Polloy says “This play will
electrify and undoubtedly attract a whole new breed of theatre
follower”
‘How To Disappear Completely And Never Be Found’ is Fin Kennedy’s
second play, after the success of his play ‘Protection’ which was
originally produced in 2003. Kennedy teaches playwriting in both
secondary and tertiary institutes and was Writer in Residence for
the Mulberry School in Tower Hamlets. He is currently developing
‘Chimeras’ a modern revenge tragedy, with Liquid Theatre after
receiving a £20,000 grant from the Arts Council.
‘How To Disappear Completely And Never Be Found’ had it’s world
premiere at the Sheffield Theatres’ Studio Theatre in England in
2007 after being the first un-produced show to receive the John
Whiting Award in the awards forty year history. “[The show] is a
devastating exploration of the post millennial human condition which
will take your breath away as it moves at the speed of light” says
Pearn.
Fin had this to say about his play: “The
research and writing process were to be the most emotionally
harrowing I’ve ever undertaken, a process perhaps mirrored by the
play also losing its way in the theatre industry before being
plucked from obscurity by the John Whiting Award. Things started
well. I knew I wanted to write a play about people who go missing,
and I approached the National Missing Person’s Helpline, and the Met
Police ‘Mispers’ Unit both of whom agreed to see me and were very
helpful.”
“But when it came to contacting some actual missing people, I found
they were, understandably, a bit difficult to find. I asked the
Helpline if I could advertise on their website, for interviewees
who’d gone missing and come back. I asked the Met if they’d show me
the Thames Ledger – a book recording the details of every corpse
that has been retrieved from the Thames for the past 200 years. Both
turned me down flat. The Met said to me ‘You have to remember that
everyone in that book is someone’s husband, wife, brother or son.’
I’d encountered a moral issue here. With missing persons there was
no getting away from the fact that I was, in effect, saying ‘Tell me
your tales of trauma and breakdown so that I can go away and make
money out of them’.”
“It was at this point that I had to make a leap – I had to fall back
on my own imagination and trust myself to make it up. I see this now
as a fourth form of creative research, what I’d term ‘empathic
research’. It involves a lot of day trips to resonant sites within
the play and standing looking at the sea listening to miserable
music and trying to imagine wanting to throw yourself in. It
involves visiting homeless hostels and arguing with priests about
the meaning of life. It involves staring at blank Word documents for
7 or 8 hours before finally committing a blast of frustration and
rage to the page from someplace only accessible when the writer is
at as low an ebb as the character. It involves hearing that
character’s name spoken in public and looking up for a moment
because you think someone is talking to you.”
“As it turned out it is perhaps the most potent form of research for
a dramatist, but it took me exhausting the other avenues before I
was forced to rely on it to fill the hole in the middle of my play.
But like emotional memory it’s also the most traumatic. It’s also of
course, the most alchemical, and the form that least lends itself to
analysis and explanation. It is the way in which playwrights access
the metaphysical.” (With thanks to
www.finkennedy.co.uk)
The Australian Premiere of the show is directed by Paul King and
stars David Passmore, Tory Rodd, Michael F Cahill, Glen Hancox and
Helen Hopkins. It is being performed at the Mechanics Institute
Performing Arts Centre, Brunswick from the 23rd of May to
the 7th of June. Tickets are $30 for Adults, $20
Concession and Groups of 10+ and $18 on Tuesdays. To book call 9016
3873 or email
hoypolloy@bigpond.com.
For more information visit
hoypolloytheatre.blogspot.com
|