photo credit: ecstaticist

The theatre was

the destination of choice last night. Or perhaps not choice, but predetermination–I’d apparently* gone in to buy a few tickets to go see ‘The Seed’, a play written and starring Kate Mulvany, herself billed as very much an up-and-comer. If I’m anyone to judge, that billing is well deserved.

The Seed is set in a single room in Nottingham, where a Vietnam veteran father and his grown-up daughter are visiting a traditional, staunchly IRA-supporting grandfather that she has never met for his birthday (which also happens to be the father’s and the daughter’s birthday as well). What ensues is an exposition of wars fought and scars earned and lies told. That last sentence may come across as dismissive but believe me it’s not; I just don’t want to spoil any surprises for you when you go and see it after buying tickets right now.

The script is tight for most of the way, the latter half gets a bit preachy about a subject which is obviously dear to the writer’s heart, but it’s forgiveable. For the curious, that subject is the incidental use of Agent Orange on Australian soldiers in the Vietnam war and the Australian government’s refusal to acknowledge it as having a link to the thousands of birth defects and cancers it has been proven to cause. At the very least the audience will walk away with a greater appreciation of the effects that chemical warfare has.

The writing is actually quite humorous, mainly because of the dark eccentricity of the grandfather, though if you object to profanities you might find the prevailing language a bit hard to swallow. I, being the open-minded, curse-loving person that I am, grinned a lot during the snappy dialogue. The acting was very good for the most part, although there were some delayed lines (that didn’t seem deliberate), but nothing that detracted from the overall performance (and I’m an over analytical watcher, so I might be making guesses at that).

Anyway, for those of you who are starved for some Culture (i.e. if you’re like me and view a night at the theatre as Culture with a capital see), The Seed is a natural choice for some quality theatre. Do yourself a favour and hit up BOCS for tickets. It’s running 2-6th of June at the Playhouse theatre in Perth. Look around for other dates in Aus.

* One day I’m going to remember an event that I’ve said I’m going to, and on that day DnD sets will be sold in Gucci.

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