Image by Brett Boardman.
Griffin have done it again with this tremendous production, the world premiere of Donna Abela’s fabulous 2013 Griffin Award winning play, Jump for Jordan, which looks at the personal and social challenges faced by second-generation Australians. Directed by Iain Sinclair, Jump For Jordan is an extraordinary volatile powder keg of politics, family and emotions which sets the tiny stage of the Griffin alight. Sinclair’s direction is spot-on and the magnificent cast give it their all.
Jump for Jordan examines the experience common to countless second-generation Australians of being caught between two cultures. Aspiring archaeologist Sophie leaves home at age 20, much to the shame of her traditional Jordanian mother, Mara. Six years later, suffering from insomnia and petrified of the judgment of her visiting ‘mad Arab’ Aunty Azza, Sophie is forced to lie about her life, her career and her Anglo-Saxon Australian partner, Sam. Worst of all is the fear that she’s also lying to herself. Sifting through layers of past and present, farce and fantasy, Jump for Jordan is one woman’s mad, messy excavation of her own history, and her attempt to piece together the broken bits of her identity.
Do refugees try to assimilate and look forward as Sahir, Sophie’s father, does? Or grieve, and only look backwards, as Mara her mother does? Sal Sharah gives a strong, shy, gruff performance as Sophie’s father, and radiates a concerned loving aura. Doris Younane brilliantly inhabits Mara, for whom things are the opposite to that of her husband – all she wants to do is return home to Jordan. For Mara, life is extremely difficult – not speaking the language, regarded as having odd customs and weird food, stuck seemingly in the middle of nowhere. And she is grieving lost family. Their delicate love scenes are contrasted with intensely emotional fights where searing family secrets are revealed.
Sophie is caught between the two worlds: loving her life of freedoms in Australia and fighting against the traditional Jordanian ways, but also loving the interconnectedness of family life (which is simultaneously also annoying ). Alice Ansara carries the show brilliantly in a finely nuanced and glowing performance. Sheridan Harbridge brings another dimension to the play in her characterisation of Loren, Sophie’s sister. Much fun is had by Camillaah Kin as Aunt Azza, bristling with knives and rifles and sunglasses, in great contrast to her elegant Arabic speaking ‘real’ self in red and white (another way for Abela to highlight clashes between the two cultures). Last, but by no means least, is Sophie’s partner, Sam (Samantha), wonderfully played by Anna Houston in an exquisite, delicate performance that hides steel. We see the two of them meet, study, fall in love and struggle in their fragile relationship. Can their relationship survive? Can they tell their families and stay together?
The play is fluid in its use of time, structure and settings. The almost Surrealist set is dominated by an open window and a huge sandhill, which can be run up, climbed and sat upon by the various characters. Nicholas Rayment’s atmospheric, haunting lighting is superb.
The packed out opening night I attended was performed in Abela’s presence. She took a couple of shy bows to the extremely enthusiastic applause at the end. Go see it.
Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 stars
Jump For Jordan
Griffin Theatre Company
Written by Donna Abela
Director: Iain Sinclair
Designer: Pip Runciman
Lighting Designer: Nicholas Rayment
Composer and Sound Designer: Nate Edmondson
Dramaturge: Jennifer Medway
Stage Manager: Edwina Guinness
Cast: Alice Ansara, Anna Houston, Sheridan Harbridge, Doris Younane, Sal Sharah, Camillaah Kin
SBW Stables Theatre, Kings Cross
www.griffintheatre.com.au
14 February – 29 March
