This night was brought to us by the Dark Matters Theatre Company. God, I love that name! I am going to make sure to see every production that this Company puts on. Like the great American songwriter Paul Simon ‘hello darkness, my old friend’, I am drawn to the dark side of life.
I am also keenly drawn to the work of Canadian playwright Neil Labute, a prolific writer in both the world of theatre and cinema. One of Labute’s works ‘The Shape Of Things’, a play that was later turned into a film, is one of most thought provoking works I have seen in twenty nine years of reviewing theatre in Sydney. Yes folks, I have been around that long. What a privilege!
The set to LAND OF THE DEAD could not be simpler. Just two chairs on either side of the stage, taken up by a man and a woman .
It takes a while to work out what’s happening. Both actors talk directly to the audience in alternating monologues.
They are a couple who have been having heated discussions.The dramatic situation is that she is going to an abortion clinic to terminate her baby before whilst early in her pregnancy.
This is a very tense play. I could not fault this production. It was directed by Mel Jensen and starred David Hodgkins and Stephanie Reeves.
Labute’s companion piece HELTER SKELTER received an equally impressive production; directed by Stephanie Reeves and starring Mel Jensen and Mark J Wilson.
This production was difficult to watch. A couple are having drinks in a restaurant. LaBute gives us sketchy details. They have been married awhile and have children at home. The woman is heavily pregnant.
The dramatic situation is that the woman has recently found out that her husband has been having an affair with her sister. She is beside herself with grief and rage.
The late Leonard Cohen’s final album, released after his death, was titled ‘Make It Darker’. Plays don’t get much darker than HELTER SKELTER.
An appropriate title. In the canon of the Beatles work, Lennon and McCartney’s song ‘Helter Skelter’ was arguably the darkest song they wrote together.
The Dark Matters Theatre Company’s production is playing the intimate Darlo Drama Theatre Level 1, 16-18 Oxford Square, Darlinghurst between the 15th and 19th December, 2021.
Featured image: Stephanie Reeves in ‘ The Land Of The Dead. All production images by Matthew Venables.