Kate Mulvany’s ‘The Seed’ has been one of the highlights of the experimental works in this years’ B Sharp season at Belvoir Street. Mulvany’s play is a heartfelt autobiographical work that she wrote based on her family and the impact that war has had on all their lives.

Mulvany’s dramatic narrative sees three generation of the Maloney family reunite after thirty years. Brian is an IRA soldier begrudgingly living in Nottingham. On his 80th birthday he is visited by his long lost son, Danny, a veteran of the Vietnam war,now living in Australia. Danny is accompanied by his daughter Rose, a 30 year old writer dealing with the repercussions of her father’s involvement in the war, and desperately trying to write his story in order to conquer her own demons. The reunion brings a lot of issues to the surface. What starts out as an afternoon of celebration ends up as an afternoon of truth telling!

Iain Sinclair’s direction of ‘The Seed’ is well paced, clear and strong. The play’s last half an hour blew me away as the play showed itself to be a strong, true drama, with things under the surface coming to a head in a decisive, explosive way.

The cast gave strong, committed performances. Kate Mulvany played herself so to speak, in the guise of the character, Rose, an intense woman reaching out to come to some truth and peace about the past.

Martin Vaughan came out of retirement to play grandfather Brian. This was a vivid portrayal of a proud, cantankerous, shiftless, elderly man whose claims to be a true warrior for the IRA are more than a little overblown.

Danny Adcock, one of Sydney’s finest dramatic actors, played Danny. This was another vivid portrayal of a no-nonsense, angry middle aged man who has been emotionally shattered by his time in the Vietnam war, and is now trying to make a new life for himself.

Micky Agosta’s set design of the living room of Brian’s house was simple and effective. Matt Cox lit the stage, and Steve Toulmin the sound design.