Adelaide Festival. Remote Theater Project. Space Theatre. 10 Mar 2023
Grey Rock is presented by US based Remote Theater Project (RTP), whose mission statement includes “… [It] develops the work of artists whose voices are not often heard in the US including international artists as well as US-based artists from other countries. We challenge artists to engage in difficult questions about their perceptions of other groups.” This statement is significant, and it underscores aspects of the context of Grey Rock. The play tells the story of Yusef who thinks that Palestine should also strive to have a presence in space – specifically, travel to the moon. He understands that Palestinians are a proud but downtrodden population, but believes they should also aspire to do great things in addition to solving their immediate and obvious problems. Understandably, Yusef meets with resistance, and his motives are misinterpreted. This resonates in contemporary Australia as well, where some opponents of The Voice think that it should be abandoned in favour of investing all effort and resources into ‘closing the gap’ between indigenous and non -indigenous populations. Many believe that both can be done, as does Yusef.
RTP commissioned Amir Nizar Zuabi, a leading theater director and playwright in the Middle East, to write and produce Grey Rock, and it received its stage debut in New York in 2019 with further productions internationally, including at the malthouse Theatre in Melbourne also in 2019.
With a plot as bizarre and unbelievable as someone wanting to build a moon rocket in their backyard, and using the minaret at their local mosque as the launch tower, it is almost redundant to say Grey Rock is a gentle comedy of sorts, but with quite dramatic moments as well. It starts as a drama, with no hint that it’s going to have any real laughs in it. We are introduced to the various characters and observe that they are dealing with diverse problems of their own: Yusef (played by Khalifa Natour), the main protagonist, is a retired TV repair man who is secretly designing the moon shot rocket, and all the time he mourns his wife who died three years before; Lila (Fidaa Zaidan), his daughter, is engaged to a Jawad (Alaa Shehada) who clearly adores her but wants to own and mould her into his own vision of the ‘perfect family’; Fadel (Luca Kamleh Chapman), a young man who is besotted with Lila, and becomes an assistant to Yusef, but mainly because that will get him closer to Lila; and the local Sheik (Motaz Malhees) who is initially alarmed by Yusef’s plans, but eventually becomes supportive because he learns to share Yusef’s big picture vision.
Natour plays Yusef superbly. Everything he does is understated and much pathos and humour emerges. Zaidan plays Lila with confidence and dignity, even when she is being derided by her fiancé. Shehada believably creates the illusion of being controlling and bullying. Chapman is earnest and youthful, and totally endearing as he goes to mush in the presence of Lila. Malhees plays the Sheik with the right blend of authority, rationality, and then counters all of that with comical unchecked enthusiasm for Yusef’s project.
Before there is any reference to the fact that the rocket’s purpose is to take Yusef to the moon, the audience has every reason to believe he may in fact be building a weapon to use against Israel. When his purpose becomes clear, the mood of the play lightens and becomes quite humorous in parts, especially in the scenes where Yusef is watching and commenting on Lila and Fadel ‘circling’ each other but not declaring their true feelings.
The stage has a full-width slatted sheer white curtain across it creating upstage and downstage acting areas. The curtain is quickly drawn upwards in sections when needed to reveal Yusef’s work area which has dozens of large blueprints of the rocket on display. There is an overhead projector on his work bench that is used on occasion to project large images across the stage on to the undrawn white curtain. The effect is stark and visually quite arresting. There are no other stage properties or set dressings, and the entire effect is one of minimalism which is supported by an evocative sparse music underscore and empathetic but simple lighting.
The play is spoken in English, but occasionally the language gets in the way of fluid performances from the actors, and there were also a few errors (such as in a technical explanation of Newton’s Law of Gravitation). Some commentators have suggested that the play might have been better performed in the original Arabic with English surtitles, but this reviewer doesn’t share that opinion, only wish that the cast spoke more clearly and loudly. The acoustic of the Space Theatre are not kind to dialogue that is hushed or not clearly articulated.
The audience clearly loved the performance, and the humour gave them welcome pause from the text’s not-so-hidden messages. This is a good play, but not a great one.
Kym Clayton
When: 10 to 12 Mar
Where: Space Theatre
Bookings: adelaidefestival.com.au
