“The choral, expressive writing in Past The Shallows creates a verbal blueprint for the stage but this particular production is more cinematic than theatrical.“
Fiona Hallenan-Barker
3 /5 shark eggs
Harry and Miles live in Tasmania with their fisherman father. Their mother died years ago in a car accident and since then the family has struggled to survive. Miles has to work on his father’s fishing boat while Harry stays home due to his sea sickness. This is a blessing in disguise for Harry as we learn about the cruelty and violence inflicted on the boys by their father at sea and at home.
Australian writer Favel Parrett wrote Past the Shallows in 2011. It won the hearts and minds of readers and a range of awards including the prestigious Miles Franklin Award. Pavel’s descriptions of the natural environment surrounding the family at the heart of the story are deeply evocative. The rugged wilderness of the Tasmanian coast permeates every chapter.
It is an enormous responsibility to bring a well-known novel to life in the style and form of theatre. There are a number of deeply loved Australian novels such as Past the Shallows that have also been reimagined into recent stage productions. Boy Swallows Universe in Queensland and Dictionary of Lost Words in South Australia are two examples.
The Archipelago Productions and ATYP adaptation of Past The Shallows, created in Tasmania, aims to differ from the book. In the program notes director and dramaturg Ben Winspear describes the play as a new creation deeply rooted in the novel. Writer Julian Larnach’s transposition echoes playwright Tom Holloway’s early work in his style of fragmented narrative. The choral, expressive writing in Past The Shallows creates a verbal blueprint for the stage but this particular production is more cinematic than theatrical. It is interesting to note that this play is being turned into a feature film and perhaps the aims of the writing were influenced by this onward journey of the work.
All of the characters in the world of the play are depicted by three actors. The two young boys, Harry and Miles are at the centre of the story. All cast members oscillate between these main characters as well as playing other members of the community, but there are touchstone roles where each actor shines. Meg Clarke plays pixie like Harry, trying to be good and not disturb his tired brother while desperately wanting someone to play with. Griffin McLaughlin plays older brother Miles, the protective layer between the children and their violent father. Ryan Hodson carries the load of the older cousin who desperately wants to escape.
Brutality and family violence are at the core of this story but there is no laugh-out-loud humour to temper the bleakness. The grim depiction of the day-to-day existence of the boys is perforated by scenes on the cold windswept beaches of Tasmania. The bush wilderness and wild seas are described in ferocious terms, giving the brothers as little respite outside the home as they get inside it with their father.
Past the Shallows has been grounded firmly in naturalism when some moments yearn to be guided into a highly physical or hyper-theatrical world. Keerthi Subramanyam’s set and costume design are minimal. The stage rostra provides a few levels and a solid playing space. Nema Adel’s digital design paints the scene with pictures of bush and sea. Glen Richards and Jason James work efficiently with sound and lighting. The space is functional and leaves us wondering what could be possible with a bit more theatrical magic.
There is no tenderness in the brutality the story and no magical realism to lift us up out of the every day struggles of the boys into something more. But this is a play for young people, and there is a lot that young actors could learn about the shapeshifting nature of characterisation by attending Past the Shallows.
Fiona Hallenan-Barker, Theatre Now
Images Credit: Jesse Hunniford
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