Ether

Image by Simon de Peak. 

We’re on the beach. South Bank beach that is. Behind the makeshift stage is a pool, a river, the murmuring evening traffic passing the CBD. Above, palms are filled with ibises roosting for the night, and bird sounds fill the air.

The frame of a backyard swingset is set into the sand: this is the crux of the action. As with all good Anywhere Theatre Festival performances, location plays an integral role in the piece, and the sand itself is used in ingenious ways.

But location also provides its own challenges. Ambient noise gets the better of some of the unamplified dialogue in this quiet, reflective piece.

Nonetheless, the story holds together with threads of physical theatre, circus skills and narration weaving into a poignant exploration of identity, rivalry and love.

It revolves around identical twins, their bonds made visible, as they struggle with finding individual identity in a close relationship.

Naomi Francis and Devon Taylor of Melbourne’s Murmur Collective developed the work for the Melbourne Fringe Festival. The show was later adapted for an outdoor beach setting for This Is Not Art (TINA) and Crack Theatre Festival 2013.

It’s a particularly successful adaptation, with creative use of space, of sand and the adaptability of the set contributing to a smooth transition through time and space as the story progresses. Costume and fabric is also used very effectively, becoming stage settings and circus props.

There are moments of the unexpected: literary references and quirky metaphors which hold the audience’s interest in the stillest moments. And, given the confines of the space, some impressive physical stunts.

Ether is mesmerizing from the first, quiet scene to its moving conclusion.