Necessary Targets

I saw this show last night at the Old Mill Theatre, South Perth. Written by Eve Ensler of 'Vagina Monologues' fame, it is about the aftermath of the 'ethnic cleansing' in Bosnia in the mid 1990s, its effect on the survivors and the somewhat belated attempts by the 'western world' to help somehow. First, we meet two American women - the war-hardened journo and the pampered shrink - an unlikely team, to be sent into a refugee camp with a somewhat vague agenda. Next we meet 4 Bosnian refugee women - Zlata, the dour former doctor; Jelena, the eternally optimist lover; Azra, the ancient rustic; Seada, the traumatised young mother and Nuna, the precocious teenager. After an initial resentment of the patronising intrusion into their lives, one by one the women's stories come out. As the narrative developes, so does the empathy between them and their American visitors. There are a number of discussion points raised by this play. The fact that the Bosnian women were all leading quite happy and secure lives until the sudden catastrophe of war disrupted them is one. After the genocidal horrors that followed, through no fault of their own, they have ended up in a refugee camp, formerly occupied by real (but very clean) cattle and are then routinely looked down upon by the so-called 'civilised' world. Also, the idea that something like that could only happen in some far-off foreign country is challenged. Nobody expects it to happen in their own neighbourhood, yet it has done many times before and since. It raises the question - how would you handle being a reffo? There were some powerful performances in this piece and the acting was of a universally high standard. The set and light design was simple and effective. The sound was mostly appropriate, however I am sure I heard a bit of Goanna's 'Solid Rock'in the background at one stage. Hardly a traditional Bosnian tune! The play is relatively short (sorry, no cuppa break folks) and I felt I would have liked it to go on a bit longer. I felt I was just getting to know the characters and would have liked to have had them drawn out a bit further. Then again, that is really Eve Ensler's style - more journalistic than dramatic. Well done, all.