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| Caleena Sansbury, Ursula Yovich,Tibian Wyles,Kyle Shilling Man With The Iron Neck. Photo: Viktor Frankowski |
Man With The Iron Neck.
Written
by Ursula Yovich. Based on an original work by Josh Bond. Co-director and
original concept. Joshua Bond. Co-director Gavin Robins. Legs Artistic Director
Joshua Thomson. Senior creative producer Cecily Hardy. Co-composrs. Iain
Grandage and Steve Francis. Setdesigner Joey Ruigrok. Lighting designer Matt
Marshall Costume designer Emma Vine. Video designer Sam James. Sound designers
Michael Toisuta and Jed Silver Head Rigger Andrew Briht. Assistant rigger Chad
Albinger. Stage Managers Anna Pidgeon and Stephanie Cox assisted by Letisha
Ackland.. Legs on the Wall. Dunstan Playhouse. Adelaide Festival Centre.
Adelaide Festival 2019 .March 8-11
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Tibian Wyles, Caleena Sansbury. Phoo: Viktor Frankowski |
The main cause of death amongst
young indigenous men aged 15 to 35 is suicide. However, Legs on the Wall
production of The Man With The Iron Neck at
the 2019 Adelaide Festival is not only a lament for the loss of indigenous men
to suicide. It is a lament for all men and women, black and white who believe
that the only solution to their circumstance is to take their own life.
Urula Yovich’s play, based on an
original work by Joshua Bond is a plea for understanding, compassion and
action. It is no didactic treatise born of anger and resentment, but the
expression of grief of a family in a remote town. Mama Rose (Ursula Yovich)
lives with her twin children, Bear(Kyle Shilling) and Evelyn (Caleena Sansbury).
Bear and neighbor Ash (Tibian Wyles) are AFL enthusiasts and Bear dreams of
playing league. Ash is in love with Evelyn and dreams of going to university.
He hopes that Evelyn will go with him.
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| Ursula Yovich, Tibian Wyles, Kye Shilling. |
Their world is turned upside down
when Bear hangs himself from a large tree .Shocked and traumatized by the death
of his friend, Ash becomes obsessed with the story of early 20th
century stunt man The Great Peters, aka The Man With The Iron Neck. He would
jump from a high ledge with a noose about his neck and survive, defying death
and risking life. Plagued by the demons that haunt his knowledge of a bloody
and brutal past, and the massacres of his people, Bear can not survive his
hanging and his death marks another horrifying statistic
.This work addresses an important
issue that is still hidden in the dark recess of political impotence.It is not
only an indigenous issue. It is a nation’s curse no matter what the race, the
creed or the culture and The Man With The
Iron Neck is a plea for action for all men and women. As Mama Rose says to
Ash when he tells her he is leaving the remote town for university in the city,
“Pain is not in the place. It is here” she says placing her hand upon her
heart. The grief that can tear a family apart can also bring a family together
and The Man With The Iron Neck offers
hope.
Legs on the Wall is a physical
theatre company, and I expected greater focus on physical theatre as a
metaphor. There is a tempestuous sequence as a hills hoist flies through the
air during Bear’s fearful recollections of the slaughter of his mob, and a high
flying aerial act in which Ash fantasizes about the lost talents and
opportunities of his friend. Sam James’s video design is stunning, capturing
the lush profusion of the Australian bush and the ghostly images of a
frightening past accompanied by Michael Toisuta and Jed Silver’s sound design.
Visually, the show is striking, capturing the authenticity of the Australian
landscape and the troubled past. Dramatically, it is less effective. There is
considerable text which may have been better served by greater visual impact of
. Legs on the Wall’s skill in communicating to an audience lies primarily in
the realm of physical theatre. Less text and more physical exploration of theme and
narrative may have had a more powerful impact.
Nonetheless, The Man With The Iron Neck leaves the audience with despair on the
one hand at the frightful rate of suicide amongst young people of both
indigenous and non-indigenous cultures and hope on the other that the nation
may come to some solution.
After Auntie Georgina Williams
performed a Welcome to Country before the commencement of the show, Founder of
the Balunu Foundation David Cole talked about the aims of , the indigenous
owned and operated organization, dedicated to breaking the cycle of indigenous
disadvantage. More information can be found by going to the website
bulunu.org.au.
Legs on the Wall is to be
applauded for confronting this terrible issue and it is now up to the
Australian governments and community to actively support the significant work
of one of the country’s leading physical theatre companies.
