WHICH WAY HOME is the story of a loving daughter and her single dad and was written as letter of sorts to her dad, who was ill, by playwright and performer Katie Beckett. It is a joyous small story within a big land: storytelling that is discrete and intimate. And with two characters who obviously love each other and have done so for all their lives together.
The tensions? Normal, family pressures. There are no huge fissures of disagreement or secrets or resentments in a story which gently reaches out to absorb and educate by touching the familial in all of us. While it is true, that being about Indigenous Australians, there is an individuality of meaning and resonance in the show, it’s a story for humankind about respect and love and place.
Tash is on a roadtrip with Dad, back to Country. He has been unwell, two heart attacks, and his enjoyment of sweeties is undiminished by his diabetes. She has the route planned and plotted but he is more freewheeling. As the story dips in and out of their lives together we are drawn a picture of compassion and care that knits these two to each other and to their wider selves.
WHICH WAY HOME is such a lovely mix of exposition and character. Katie Beckett and Kamahi Djordan King have such a palpable rapport to bring warmth and heart to Tash and her dad’s story. Beckett is a livewire in the role and she bounces and travels easily backwards in age and emotions without the character ever being lost. As Dad, King has a lackadaisical, wry way about him that never loses the sadnesses of some aspects of his life and his wider culture. Dad is such an engaging character and King’s performance simply makes one smile.
There is so much fun in this play, a light-heartedness around the characters. These are a pair who know how to make each other happy. They also know where not to tread. We will see Tash’s growing up, vignettes from her life with Dad and the realities wrought by the loss of wife and mother. It’s a delicate balance which is cleverly penned by Beckett and directed by Rachael Mazza. We are given much to love about these two early on.
Once invested, the story flows freely despite the flash back structure and the narrative is rich and enjoyable. The sequences and episodes elide easily and the direction and performances give clear indications of when and where they are in their life’s story. Small elements of costume and a subtle use of props aids the seamlessness of this placement.
The set is a simple touring set that fills the space with symbolism. Some elements never spoken of, yet powerful in their evocation. Like the sepia map with familiar towns and the Great Dividing Range marked clearly. I see Anakie and I hear the word “brigalow” and my Central Queensland girlhood rises unbidden.
The production is technically very engaging also. Soundscapes like the bush or backyard chickens mix with music to bring the emotion home. The superb aqua choice for many lighting states pulls the production together with Tash’s costume and handbag. And the technical excellence of the finale, beautifully acted by Beckett, is inspiring, moving and gives time to consider what we have seen. And what we feel about home and our own loved ones.
As you can read in SAG’s interview with the cast, Katie Beckett’s father happily did not die as she feared when writing the play. He is actually joining she and her son during the tour. Fear of such a loss strikes home to all of us and WHICH WAY HOME points the way to reconciliation with the inevitability of losing our parents and the importance of loving them in the now.
Katie Beckett’s WHICH WAY HOME is playing at the Seymour Centre [Facebook] until August 4th.
