The story is a chronologically fractured tale, told from multiple perspectives, that charts the emotional consequences of two unexplained disappearances. David, the central character, went missing in Disneyland at the age of seven, and the play starts by dropping us into the middle of his mother’s horror and confusion as she looks for her son amongst the talking animals and giant tea cups.
Simultaneously we see her 26 years later, still disturbed and confused by the events of that day which, we learn, David and his mother have never talked about. We then see the events that lead to his second disappearance and the emotional fallout surrounding his sudden, renewed absence.
It is a story with personal significance for playwright Lachlan Philpott, as it was the disappearance of his close friend which sparked the play.
Miall has done an excellent job of handling the complex text, which jumps between different characters and times; between dialogue, narration and direct address; and between poetry and banality at a pace that is sometimes dizzying. The direction is clear and the text never becomes confusing or muddied.
The actors, led by the powerful Helen Howard and always-likeable Chris Vernon, also do an excellent job. However, I felt a little left behind some of the time. With the play starting at such an intense level I felt I didn’t get to know the characters as well as I would have liked, and with the text so fractured I often felt a little distanced from their emotional turmoil.
The design is an excellent response to the slightly awkward theatre space; clever without being obtrusive, with lighting that leaves the set and characters floating in the darkness. Light also helps direct us through the weaving text, though at times the shifting beams became more distracting than helpful. The sound design is moody and unobtrusive, adding effectively to the edgy atmosphere.
Overall, Colder is a fascinating play handled well by an excellent team. It is emotionally complex, unresolved, and full of the painful ambiguity of real life. True to its central motif, it is uncomfortably chilling.
La Boite Indie & Michelle Miall present
Colder
Writer: Lachlan Philpott
Director: Michelle Miall
Producers: Michelle Miall & Glen J Player
Designer: Amanda Karo
Lighting Designer: Daniel Anderson
Sound Designer/Composer: Phil Slade
Cast: Kerith Atkinson, Tony Brockman, Helen Howard, Alison McGirr, Kevin Spink & Chris Vernon
La Boite
June 22 – July 9
