When the rain stops falling

‘When The Rain Stops Falling’ was developed over three years, by award-winning screenwriter and playwright Andrew Bovell. This outstanding play went on to win the 2008 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award.
Kalgoorlie born, Bovell is recognised as one of Australia’s greatest storytellers and he is admired for the depth and grittiness of his characters. This is a multi-narrative story, i.e. one that has the same incident observed and described from more than one perspective.
This spellbinding and breathtaking production is being presented by the Black Swan State Theatre Company at the Heath Ledger Theatre, within the State Theatre Centre, at the corner of Roe and William Street, Northbridge. The performances, which are 2 hours long - with no interval – run nightly until Sunday 13^th November. Curtain up at 7.30 pm.
 
This script is possibly the most brilliant piece of playwriting that I have ever seen. The genius of the structure, the linking of the characters and the storylines was way beyond the credibility of most theatregoers.
 
       Before the front of the house curtains, Gabriel starts his tale.
       It is 2039, and in a one-room bedsit in Alice Springs lives fifty-year-old recluse, Gabriel York (Steve Turner). Out of the blue, Gabriel receives a phone call from his estranged son, Andrew (Scott Sheridan) who, as an eight-year-old child, he abandoned in London twenty years earlier. The son, still feeling betrayed, now wants to catch up with his father and is seeking truthful answers to the past. Andrew feels that he cannot accept the present or future without fully understanding the family’s past.
       Gabriel, although filled with regret, very much wants to see his son, but he is panic stricken not so much over the imminent reunion, but rather that he has nothing for their lunch - possibly his conscience for not having provided for the boy all these years? Gabriel goes out to get something to eat, and despite being in the desert centre of the continent, the weather is horrendous.
 
       The curtains open about two metres to give us a glimpse of people in the street, clutching umbrellas and running everywhere. The rain has been belting down, without relief, for days. He is convinced it is the end of the world. Slowly the fixed gap in the curtains tracks slowly from one side of the stage to the other. As Gabriel struggles through the storm, like manna from heaven drops a fresh fish. Gabriel is astounded, because as the result of decades of postponed conservation schemes, fish are now practically an extinct species. Could this be nature struggling back? Or a further final sign of impending doom?
 
The play goes backwards and forwards through the generations. However, rather than continue the synopsis in the usual mode, which would ruin the enjoyment of the ingenious structure and quite a few twists and surprises, I will write a chronological structure of the 80 years represented in this chronicle.
 
       At the other side of the world, back in 1959, living in a tiny London flat were Andrew’s great grandfather, forty-years-old Henry Law (Steve Turner) and his young wife Elizabeth (Alison van Reeken). Henry travels to work in the city by tube every day, then each night he and his wife get delight from picking a random date in history, and discussing the major happenings of that year. Before long they have a son, Gabriel Law. When the boy is still a youngster, due to irreconcilable differences, Henry leaves the family home and sets off alone for Australia.
       Twenty years later, in 1988, Gabriel (Scott Sheridan) decides to leave his 50-year-old mother (Vivienne Garrett), who has become a secret tippler, and venture to Australia in search of his father. From postcards, Henry had last been heard of in Coorong, a small town on the shores of a large salty lagoon in South Australia. 
       Near Coorong, Gabriel meets a 24-year-old woman called Gabrielle (Fiona Pepper), whose family had died in tragic circumstances. Immediately their comparable, melancholic lives draws them irresistibly and movingly together. Gabrielle becomes pregnant with their son, Gabriel - Andrew’s father.
       After an accident, Gabrielle is widowed and a stranger, Joe Ryan (Igor Sas) cares for Gabrielle. Joe becomes young Gabriel’s new loving stepfather.

        Now in their fifties, Joe and Gabrielle (Julia Moody) are living happily together in Adelaide. Gabriel decides to set out and see Uluru, the site of his parents’ lost loves and memories. Gabriel then ventures further to Alice Springs, deciding to settle there. With the strain of having had a life filled with tragedy, Gabrielle, still in her 50s, is becoming confused and depressed, and Joe finds it difficult to cope.
       The audience now find themselves back at the beginning, where Andrew is about to visit his father, Gabriel. When they meet, gifts are exchanged. Gabriel gives his son a strange collection of objects, harvested over the years by family members.
 
 

This tale of an intertwined family tree is a veritable Pandora’s box, where every predicament solved reveals a new tragic dilemma to be answered. What dark secrets are hidden in the past? How has life impacted on domestic family values? Like ‘Blood Brothers’ this play considers nature versus nurture, compounded by love, fate, tragedy and location.

The audience are forced to delve into their own lives and the standards with which they were raised. The play had so many parallels to my own life that I found it profoundly sad and deeply disturbing. In fact, after the performance I spoke to Fiona Pepper’s sister whom I have known for years and was so confused - dare I say traumatised? - that I couldn’t remember her name. It took me quite a while to compose myself. Yes it is demanding of your attention, slightly confusing at times but so rewarding. Another play that could be even more satisfying on being seen a second time.

Adam Mitchell’s inventive direction of this memorable drama is stunning. Adam has employed astonishing symbolism, such as the whole family, irrespective of differences in their home location or the generation, being gathered at one time at the dining table in the old family home. It is suggestive of the Last Supper setting. In the Adelaide scene, three doors are suspended in the background, representing the opening to a new life? Or is the true message to be found in the pattern of the panelling?

The exceptional cast’s performances were subtle, thus giving a genuine depth, and feeling of true insight to their lives. The complex movement around the stage, blending eras together, was probably Claudia Alessi’s hardest challenge yet. The actors flowed naturally as they entered and exited, swapping locations and generations.

The eye-catching and exciting set by Bryan Woltjen had to represent the snug 60s London apartment, and next minute, the vast desert of Australia 80 years later. He had four generations of décor and costumes, stretched over two continents to handle. Wisely, the simplicity of a lime-washed, pine floor and black walls concentrated the attention of the audience on the action. Like magic, genius is in the simplicity of the appearance.

As well as the aforementioned tracking curtains, the black rear wall embraced doors, windows and panoramic scenes, which were all created by light enclosed in a uniquely amazing, moving-matte effect. Black drapes being repositioned laterally, vertically and even diagonally to produce the desired shapes. Bryan’s rain effect of light scintillating off plastic rods, coupled with sound designer Ben Collins terrific, crisp effects has produced a totally convincing storm. Trent Suidgeest’s lighting deals with the soft, cosy, home incandescent globes, a lightening storm through to the harsh and cruel Australian sun. The panorama (video) of the storm clouds is a visual triumph for Mia Holton.

This elaborate, weighty drama may have complex, multilayered writing, but it is still a beguiling, remarkable theatrical experience. This is not an easy night at the theatre, but is an extremely rewarding, satisfying and memorable one. Two-hour productions usually have the audience becoming restless, but this absorbing and poignant production, which is filled with surprises, held everyone entranced. There are numerous unanswered questions in this thought invoking drama that will have you revisiting the story for days. A brilliant piece of scriptwriting, superbly presented by an outstanding cast and their skilled director. Wow, I am still reeling.