Lion House Theatre, Joanne Hartstone, and Holden Street Theatres. Holden Street Theatres - The Manse. 20 Feb 2019
A tiny room in the old manse of Holden Street Theatres is filled with memorabilia and collectibles signifying a life well lived and souvenired. British actor and theatre creator Casey Jay Andrews makes the necessarily small audience comfortable on sofas and soft chairs. There is so much to visually comprehend; one is partly inattentive to her preamble.
Old photos, mostly of women in giveaway 70s hairdos, are gently tabled one by one and projected onto the wall above the fireplace for all to see. A catalogue of portraits and family gatherings. Casey shifts to poetic prose underlain by her score of gentle electronic music. Her narration is augmented by historical voice recordings of the principal women of the story and excerpts read from American Gelett Burgess’s 1923 manual on manners, courtesy and gratitude, Have You An Educated Heart?
The book and Casey’s story are tied by sharing the gift of life. A cancer in the family is bad enough, but what if your Mum and her three sisters were all affected by breast cancer? Casey’s art teacher has already fallen to the dreadful disease. If it doesn’t take your breathe away, maybe you stopped breathing already.
Forty minutes of poignancy, immediacy and honesty. How much time does one have left to see this show and read that book? One leaves with borrowed strength to be more grateful.
PS Cards are handed out after the show to acquaint you with the Know Your Lemons campaign that helps women identify visual symptoms of breast cancer.
PPS Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) is credited with inventing the word blurb in its meaning used today.
David Grybowski
4 stars
When: 16 Feb to 16 Mar
Where: Holden Street Theatres – The Manse
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
