Written and directed
by Ian Robinson
A La Mama
co-production with Cicero’s Circle Theatre Company
The Street Theatre
25-28 March 2015
Review by Len Power
25 March 2015
The plight of boat people doesn’t seem like an ideal subject
for a comedy but Ian Robinson’s play uses satire and irony to show what it
could be like to be caught up in a situation where politics have become more
important than people.
Set mostly in an immigration facility in or near Australia,
‘The Process’ focusses on a Tamil refugee who has been assessed as a genuine
refugee but also a possible security risk, leaving him in a nightmarish
limbo. As a refugee, he can’t be
returned to his country of origin and as a security risk he can’t be allowed to
enter Australia.
As the refugee, Ezekiel Day gives a believable and moving performance
of a happy, intelligent and well-educated man reduced bit by bit to the point
of insanity and despair by Government policy.
Sean Scully plays an Immigration Department official as well as two Ministers
– one from the former Labour Government and one from the current Liberal
Government. His performances in all
three roles are funny, infuriating and nicely controlled. Jessica Muschamp artfully plays both an
Immigration lawyer and a psychiatrist, both of them well-meaning but
constrained by the system in which they work.
Her very different approach to both roles and the change in her
appearance made it feel like two different actresses were at work here.
Ian Robinson’s direction of the show is simple but
effective. Utilizing only a few props
and furniture, he creates a good sense of reality for the locations in which
the action is set. The show moves at the
right pace, allowing us time to comprehend the maze of government policies
presented. Lighting designed by Gillian
Schwab heightens the atmosphere of the show.
As theatre, the play works very well on the surface but
injecting humour into this subject lessens the impact somewhat. The Government red tape as presented here
sounds persuasive but as it’s presented in a funny way, we feel that we
shouldn’t take it too seriously. That
old cliché of cold and unfeeling public servants quoting rules and regulations
is also a bit tired. On the plus side, it
would have been easy to just concentrate on the current Government’s
immigration policies, so it was an excellent idea to show that the former
Government’s policies were also flawed.
Overall, the play was entertaining and got you thinking
about your own attitude to our immigration policies. If that was the intention of the play, then
it works. I expect audience members will
have widely differing reactions to the comic aspects, though.
Originally broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 ‘Dress Circle’ showbiz program
with Bill Stephens on Sunday 29 March 2015 from 5pm.