Harriet Gordon-Anderson (now played by Amy Johnston), Barnaby Pollock and Nicola Bartlett in Moving On Inc. at the Blue Room theatre for Fringe World 2015 Picture: Reece Scott.
Nerida Dickinson:
Moving on is hard when there is unfinished business, but do the dead haunt the living more than the living haunt the dead.
Abby works for a specialist removals firm, clearing out houses of people who have died, allowing their special memories to be kept and their friends and family members to move on. When boxes of her late father’s possessions are found, though, Abby’s boyfriend Sam encourages her to burn them, in a ceremony of their own.
Driving in the forest at night, looking for the special spot that Abby’s father would bring her when she was a child, Sam crashes into a tree. Without phone reception, they are stranded, but have arrived at Abby’s special clearing, full of random objects that trigger fond memories. Sam and Abby bicker constantly as they speak to each other, their closeness full of tiny conflicts. Their conversation is disrupted by the appearance of a bizarrely unkempt figure, who introduces herself as Ruth. Ruth has questions about the past, love and hidden truths, that bring some measure of peace to her with their answers but leave Sam and Abby shaken and unsettled.
As Ruth, Nicola Bartlett displays brilliant physical control and perfect dramatic timing. Her initial entrance to the stage is so gradual and her aspect so consistently wraithlike that each audience member gets their own little shock as they register her presence in the background. Bartlett’s lost quality of facial expression contrasts with her character’s determination to get her answers, to move on. Bartlett plays the role of an older woman in a matter of fact way, without any of the theatrical clichés that can accompany such portrayals, ably assisted by writer Mikala Westall’s decent writing of the part. Seeing such a well-written role, played so well, highlights the general lack of decent roles for older women in theatre generally.
Sam is a fairly basic character, who Barnaby Pollock could have developed with a bit more nuance. However, Pollock focusses on the young man’s strong sense of protectiveness and defensiveness and determination to play himself as a hero, giving impetus to the unfolding storyline. Amy Johnston’s Abby is engaging in her youthful self-absorption. Johnston has many moments that play well with Ruth, and brings clear perception of the imbalances in Abby’s relationship with Sam. With many moments that echo Ruth’s experiences, Johnston plays this combination of brashness and introspection well, switching between Abby’s youthful, optimistic enthusiasm and the underlying angst and loss that has defined her adolescence.
Joe Lui’s lighting design works with the basic space to create subtle atmospheric effects, including some very unsettling moods. The light works with the detritus strewn around the stage to depict a larger, more complex space, emphasised by directorial strategies from Westall that have the actors utilising space beyond the boundaries of the stage area.
A charming, dark comedy, this production from Lost Boys Theatre showcases Westall’s clever writing and confident directing, with good casting choices further ensuring audience engagement. Resonant with thematic echoes between the characters, this work contains plenty of material to assist audience members to reflect on people and moments in their own lives that may benefit from the special qualities of Moving On Inc.
Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nerida Dickinson is a writer with an interest in the arts. Previously based in Melbourne and Manchester, she is observing the growth of Perth’s arts sector with interest.
Mariyon Slany:
Moving On Inc. provides uneven entertainment.
Moving On Inc. is a Subiaco Theatre Festival performance experiencing a remount from its debut 18 months ago. Written and directed by Mikala Westall, she emphasises the imperfect nature of love and memory and the importance of forgiveness as core themes. This WA based writer and acting team of Westall with Amy Johnston, Barnaby Pollock and Nicola Bartlett have produced a work that is best described as uneven.
The central idea of the ‘Moving On’ company is that they clean up your dead family member’s possessions; which probably has a sound basis in the business world. It certainly provided an interesting array of objects of stage for the cast to sift through, refer to and hold up for further examination; a great device for stagecraft and moments of intrigue with stage design by Sally Phipps. The lighting design by Joe Lui was very effective, starting with a blackout for a car accident.
Johnston plays Abby the young girl running this business and Sam is her boyfriend played by Pollock. Nicola Bartlett plays an older woman, Ruth, who appears to them after their accident in the forest, and who is apparently dead. We go on a journey that explores the key relationship between the three of them. Sam’s final lines around wanting to be a hero for Abby and her mum was an easy line that didn’t have the previous dialogue to illustrate this fully – as Sam and Abby’s relationshipis one of bickering siblings interspersed with the frequent ‘f’ word. Used judiciously swearing can be more than appropriate in a play but to sprinkle the writing with it seems a hard call for what was a mostly older audience of 90 that night.
Overall the idea was interesting: of having someone not being able to ‘move on’ after death, and the performance of young Amy Johnston as Abby was a highlight of the evening with her energetic immersion into the role. The play’s second half had unresolved writing and undecided performances from the other two actors, particularly Nicola Bartlett’s role providing the challenges of playing Ruth who is supposedly dead but very much alive in this role; and I’m not sure her resolution of how to play this character was that successful. This was not a play that really stayed with me and despite its promising beginning with suitable drama, was not sustained during the performance.
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mariyon Slany runs her own communications and art consultancy. Her formal qualifications in Visual Arts, Literature and Communications combine well with her experience in media and her previous work as WA’s Artbank Consultant for her current position as Public Art Consultant.
Moving On Inc.
Written and Directed by Mikala Westall
Performed by Amy Johnston, Barnaby Pollock, Nicola Bartlett
Lighting design by Joe Lui
Set and Costume Design Sally Phipps
At Subiaco Arts Centre Studio as part of Subiaco Theatre Festival
22 – 25 June 2016
