Evoking all the anticipation of a new work, Song of First Desire, by playwright Andrew Bovell, directed by Neil Armfield, and with the casting of Kerry Fox and Sarah Peirse, alongside Jorge Muriel and Borja Maestre from the original staging by Spanish collective Numero Cero – this production’s appeal was assured.
Devised as a four-hander, set in 1968 and the present, Song of First Desire covers a broad slice of Spanish history with its roots in the 1936 to 1939 civil war that laid some of the foundations for World War II and a military dictatorship lasting until 1975.
With each of the actors playing two roles, the play opens in Madrid on a solitary Camelia (Sarah Peirse), who captivates as the matriarch whose life is about to be disrupted when her children Luis (Jorge Muriel) and Julie (Kerry Fox) hire a Colombian migrant Alejandro (Borja Maestre) to become the gardener.
Beware the outsider – as the role so often illustrates – they become the catalyst for disruption.
Secrets held for years are about to be revealed in ways that shock, as the play moves into the present, including accusations of rape, sexual abuse and homosexuality, which can only be displayed after being repressed during the dictatorship years.
As a means of accommodating the past to help future generations proceed, Spain enacted the Pacto del Olvido (the pact of forgetting). In Song of First Desire this is about to be ripped apart.
Without labouring the point, Bovell points this concept to Australia and Terra Nullius, the Latin phrase meaning ‘nobody’s land’, to note how this has also divided our nation – between those who support Indigenous rights and those who chose to dismiss them, claiming that we need to move forward.
While Song of First Desire is a powerful piece of writing well presented by the cast, it is also a somewhat daunting work demanding acute attention to the various time frames of the action and changes of characters.
Armfield, who came to the work late, as it was originally slated to be directed by Eamon Flack, has the play moving – even though it is as much about reflection as it is about the present – and shows his command of the cast and text throughout this rather long production.
Peirse is a striking presence from her entry as Camelia, vulnerable and fragile, dressed only in incontinence underwear.
Fox holds our attention in her roles with her presence and physicality as both Julia and Carmen, Maestre almost steals the show as Alejandro/Juan and Muriel, as the gay son, has one of the play’s great moments when he openly proclaims his sexuality and desires.
The single set of black walls by Mel Page is a cross, sink and table on the periphery of a real garden surrounding a patch of soil that has been soaked with much blood over the years. It is symbolic of the past and a reminder of a stark future.
Lighting from Morgan Moroney is restrained to simple whites and ambers that produce impressive shadows, while the work from composer/sound designer Clemence Williams is equally as refined in a layering of the music.
Read: Opera review: Candide, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Song of First Desire is a complex work from a masterful writer and well presented as a production and even though set in Spain, has a resonance with world events at the present time and is a reminder that we must never forget.
Song of First Desire by Andrew Bovell
Belvoir St Theatre
Director: Neil Armfield
Set and Costume Designer: Mel Page
Lighting Designer: Morgan Moroney
Composer/Sound Designer: Clemence Williams
Associate Sound Designer: Madeleine Picard
Movement and Intimacy Director: Nigel Poulton
Voice Coach: Laura Farrell
Stage Manager: Luke McGettigan
Assistant Stage Manager: Jen Jackson
Cast: Kerry Fox, Borja Maestre, Jorge Muriel, Sarah Peirse
Song of First Desire will be performed until 23 March 2025.
