THEATRE: BEYOND THE NECK
Beyond The Neck attempts to tell an untellable story. And succeeds, considering the difficulty.
Playwright Tom Holloway was 17 when the Port Arthur massacre shook Tasmania and the rest of the world to its core in 1996. Disappointed with the information released following this tragedy, he began writing what became Beyond The Neck, starting with in-depth interviews with the survivors, the nurses, counsellors and families who lost loved ones.
The result is a lyrical, layered tale of four characters, each coping with grief and what to do with bone-deep memories of trauma. There is a young boy, in whom we are perhaps supposed to see a potential Martin Bryant, neglected by his parents, haunted by violent impulses. A sharp, cynical teenage girl (played superbly by Anna Houston) tries to come to terms with her father’s death in the massacre – and with a world that seems to lack logic. Another woman, on a bus full of “old people”, is in denial about her family’s fatal road accident, while the jocular tour guide finally realises that memories don’t stay buried forever.
Many might prefer it that way. But this powerful production manages to find poetry amidst the pain.
Until May 31. Belvoir Theatre, 25 Belvoir St Surry Hills. $10-29, 9699 3444 or belvoir.com.au
