THEATRE: BOUGANVILLE PHOTOPLAY PROJECT

Documentary meets theatre in this innovative production about the conflict in Bougainville, a son’s search for the truth about his father, and the power of healing. A middle-aged man wanders tentatively to the stage and introduces himself as Dr Paul Dwyer – Academic, ethnographer and adventurer. Part personal essay and part endearingly simple multimedia project, it charts the real-life story of Dwyer’s travels to Bouganville in the footsteps of his father, the first orthopaedic surgeon to travel to the island in the 1960s. Old family photographs, documentary footage and confronting images of massacres intertwine to form a fascinating lecture series stroke family slide-show about the tragic civil war and its many victims. Fresh from wild reviews at the Old Fitzroy Theatre last year, political theatre company Version 1.0 now bring the production to the Upstairs Theatre at Belvoir Street. A must see.

Until Nov 28, Belvoir Street Upstairs Theatre, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills, $35-57, 9699 3444, belvoir.com.au