Image from The Button Event.
The importance of storytelling has long been upheld by theatre and the artists who work within it, but how often do we recognise our own stories and the significance of the happenings in our own lives? Devisor and performer, Todd MacDonald, has done just that with this one man show that explores his own journey through his daughter’s illness.
When his daughter Lola is diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis, Todd and his wife Rebecca enter into a confusing and confronting myriad of medical diagnoses, side effects, surgical procedures and potential lifelong complications. Faced with the unthinkable, his child’s ill health, MacDonald documents the fear and uncertainty of what may or may not have been and the impossible decisions that have faced him and his family.
Raw, emotional and often surprisingly funny, this is a performance that you cannot help be moved by. The Billie Brown studio, in keeping with its running theme for the festival, is filled with MacDonald’s love for his daughter – its power and resilience inescapable as he weaves together the story of his family throughout the evening (literally at times with long pieces of elastic wound around the space).
What appears to be a simple, minimalist set, over the course of the performance transforms to become something ethereal and beautiful. With over one hundred tennis balls employed in the service of creating this show, it gets a little chaotic (as does life), but then who knew that tennis balls could glow, and become the most stunning of set pieces? With more metaphors than I could fit into this review, the meaning and the visual effect of this just works perfectly.
MacDonald, in telling his own story, does so with humility and heartfelt emotion and performs with an energy that represents the frantic pace of a father trying to keep up and hold everything, and everyone, together. This transforms the performance into a rollercoaster of events, hurtling towards a final point that the audience is desperately hoping will be a happy ending.
Fortunately it is a happy ending, and as MacDonald brings his family out onto the stage during the applause, there is barely a dry eye in sight. But this story and this performance are not just here to move the audience, they are here because some stories just need to be told. They need to exist in the world beyond the bubble of time and space in which they form and Lola’s story is one which in doing so, brings attention to the struggles of many more families who continue to face these challenges.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
The Button Event
Queensland Theatre Company
Deviser/Performer: Todd MacDonald
Deviser/Director: Bagryana Popov
Design Consultant: Kevin O’Brien
Designer (Initial Concept): Sam Paxton
Lighting Designer: Ben Hughes
Composer/Sound Designer: Guy Webster
Stage Manager: Yanni Dubler
Bille Brown Studio, South Brisbane
Brisbane Festival
www.brisbanefestival.com.au
18 – 27 September
