10 July, Wharf 2
Teenage Ben's family has been on the move his entire life, starting in Sydney and moving steadily westwards, opening Thai restaurants in every place they go. But in this latest sleepy country town, there's no customers and no one cares. When graffiti appears on the local Baptist church, the town's apathy turns to hostility, and the they start questioning whether they should stay or go - maybe even go back to Thailand.
This was a good, solid production that runs a tight 90 minutes and hit me right in the heart. I thought this struck a really good balance between realism and fantasy. Ben's relationships with his strong-willed, driven mother, the bickering couple who have worked for the restaurant forever, the (recently deceased) chef, and local girl Gabby all ring really true. The moments of fantasia - when the dead chef speaks to them from beyond the grave - work dramatically as well as speaking to the play's allegorical elements. Without hitting you over the head, this works so well as a lens, a view, on Australia's relationship with Asian immigrants. Specifically Thai, of course, but there's a lot here which I as an Asian-Australian found relatable.
As a story of immigration and culture clash, this isn't an entirely hopeful story. Their restaurant battered by rocks, Ben and his family are forced to make a difficult choice and to sacrifice relationships that are dear to them. Local girl Gabby turns on Ben but struggles to recognise that she too is an immigrant, that her people too were intruders once. There is a glimmer of hope at the end and I wasn't left feeling entirely downcast, but the lingering sense here is that there's so much more to be done.
The story also speaks a lot to the sacrifice of migrants for their children, specifically mothers, and their hopes and dreams for their children in the new world (for Ben's mother) as well as old (Nam, whose daughter has grown up in Thailand without her), that struck me right to the heart. I cried and I wasn't the only one.
Finally, I'm not Thai, but I am Asian, and there is still something really powerful about seeing even people similar to yourself on the stage. Between this and Chimerica, is this the most Asians on STC stages in one year ever? Hopefully this is part of a trend, not just a blip.
Links:
Q&A with playwright Savetsila
SMH interview
AUSTRALIAN GRAFFITI
By Disapol Savetsila
Director Paige Rattray
Designer David Fleischer
Lighting Designer Sian James-Holland
Composer Max Lyandvert
Sound Designer Michael Toisuta
With
Gabrielle Chan, Airlie Dodds, Peter Kowitz, Kenneth Moraleda, Mason Phoumirath, Srisacd Sacdpraseuth, Monica Sayers
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