THEATRE: LIKE A FISHBONE
A fishbone is a small, splintery thing, prone to getting stuck in the maws of humans. A little like self-righteous notions and ill-founded ideals – which this play by Australian-born Anthony Weigh also takes a big bite out of.
Like a Fishbone borrows its title from a Robert Lowell poem about the American civil war; and like the poem, it explores how to memorialise tragedy; how to separate the secular from the sentimental. After a Dunblane-esque massacre rocks a small community, a steely-minded architect (played by Marta Dusseldorp) is enlisted to erect a commemorative edifice. Only bereaved mother (Anita Hegh) toting some blind faith stands in her way.
In broader terms, this reveals the ongoing tension between rationalism and religion. “Weigh’s intention is to critique the liberal intelligentsia, the tribes that he lives amongst,” says director Tim Maddock. Inspired by the ‘futile’ arguments of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, “You realise that a lot of these ideas that underpin the notion of progressive or rationalist thought … are seriously flawed.”
Nonetheless, Maddock hopes you do not merely side with the non-rational. “Our aim is to create a dramatic scenario where the audience suffer [some] ambivalence,” he says. Both the architect and the mother are polarised in a their battle for power – on one side a representative for a class of people, “Who are intellectually permitted and encouraged to … build the future for us,” on the other, “a woman who comes from a religious community who really has no social power at all.” Certainly, most of the criticisms the play has received overseas have centred on how little human middle ground exists between the two. Maddock disagrees, “The whole point of it is to see how those two people might be connected.” The middle ground might be motherhood – but as this the most emotive issue of all, it is unlikely to leave you feeling comfortable.
For a play that Maddock claims is, “Not really polemic, it’s just a play that’s got polemic built into it,” there is a lot of swallow – but it will surely taste interesting.
Jul 16-Aug 7, Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay, $26-45, 8002 4772, griffintheatre.com.au
