Written by Helen Machalias
Directed by Andrew Holmes
The Street Theatre, October 25 to November 3, 2013
Review by Len Power October 26, 2013
Plays
with a message can be problematic. When
‘the message’ dominates a play, it quickly becomes an evening of tedium. ‘In Loco Parentis’ avoids this trap. The play by new Australian writer, Helen
Machalias, is compelling, confronting, educating, unflinching and it’s a rattling
good mystery as well.
Set
in a fictitious exclusive residential Canberra college, it covers a year of
investigation into rape allegations and details the impact on all of those
involved. We’re quick to make judgements
only to find that there’s a lot more going on than we were led to believe at
the start.
As
stated in the program, ‘In Loco Parentis’ is a principle that allows
institutions such as colleges and schools to act in the best interests of
students as they see fit, although not allowing what could be considered
violations of the student’s civil liberties.
How we see that principle applied during the action of this play is a
matter of great concern.
There
were very good performances by Catherine Crowley as the University Sexual
Harassment Officer, Kate Blackhurst as the Head of College, Dylan Van Den Berg
as the student, Mitch, and Hannah Wood as another student, Katy. The five chorus members, played by Jake
Brown, Mia Carr, Linda Chen, Lewis McDonald and Georgia Pelle were all believable
characters.
The
simple, but effective set and lighting was by Gillian Schwab and there was an
imaginative use of the light thrown by mobile phone screens. Sound design by Shoeb Ahmad was also notable
and the costume choices worked well.
Made
up of a number of short scenes, the play is well-directed, with finely flowing
transitions from one scene to the next. Director,
Andrew Holmes has done a fine job integrating all of the various elements of
this play, maintaining a good pace and obtaining in-depth performances from his
cast.
The
play by Helen Machalias is well-written, the incidents played out are
believable and the characters have considerable depth. There was no avoiding or playing down of some
of the appalling incidents that the play details and the language is, of
necessity, very strong. At nearly two
hours without a break, this intense play could benefit from some minor trimming
to bring the running time down to a more sustainable ninety minutes. This is the writer’s first full length play
and it’s a mature and exciting work which deserves to be seen by a wide audience.
Originally broadcast
on Artsound FM 92.7 ‘Dress Circle’ program on Sunday 27 October 2013.
