Letters to Lindy by Alana Valentine.
Directed by Darren Yap. Designed
by James Browne. Lighting by Toby Knyvett. Composition and Sound Design by Max
Lambert and Roger Lock. A Merrigong Theatre Company Production in association
with Canberra Theatre Centre. The Playhouse. Canberra Theatre Centre. August 9
– 13. 2016
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
Imagine if you will, playwright
Alana Valentine poring over a vast selection of 20,000 letters, written over
the years to Lindy Chamberlain, and held by the National Library of Australia.
Now cast your mind back to that fateful day in August 1980 when the lives of
Lindy Chamberlain and her family changed forever in an event that divided,
captivated and obsessed a nation. There are those among us, who can still
remember the reports, the trial, the conviction and the subsequent exoneration.
There are those who may have read of the dreadful death of baby Azaria or
watched the ensuing media circus that prevailed, or seen the film with Meryl
Streep as the tormented, abused and grief-stricken mother. Today,a schoolgirl stands in front of the
exhibit in the National Museum’s Eternity Gallery and asks “Who was Lindy
Chamberlain?” It is a question that begs to be answered.
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| Jeanette Cronin as Lindy Chamberlain. Photo by Lisa Tomasetti |
Letters to Lindy is in a large part an answer to that question. But
it is much more than that. In Merrigong Theatre Company’s production under
director Darren Yap’s sensitive,
touching , illuminating and superbly orchestrated direction Letters to Lindy becomes a shining tribute to Valentine’s artistry
as a playwright. It is also a glowing tribute to an ordinary mother, whose
extraordinary endurance, courage and fortitude in the face of accusation, vilification,
blind injustice and cruel judgement triumphed over the dark, vindictive aspect
of human nature. However, Valentine’s selection allows no black and white
judgement to prevail. She approaches the gargantuan task of selection with a
finely honed sense of responsibility, not only as a mark of respect for the
ever-present experience of Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, but also with a deeper
appreciation of the rich tapestry of human opinion and reaction that she
proceeds to unfold. Letters to Lindy is
not an attempt to change opinion, nor to necessarily judge. It is an attempt to
reveal the nature of the correspondent and through it the character of the
recipient. The written word is revelation, and Valentine conducts a symphony of
prejudice, hate, compassion and love. It is left to an audience to emerge from
this theatrical tour de force with a just and humane verdict. I have no doubt
that Lindy Chamberlain- Creighton is a woman “more sinned against than sinning”.
Letters
to Lindy with all its power, beauty and abiding reason and humanity has not
changed, but has rather reinforced my belief in her innocence.
Valentine’s brilliance is in her
remarkable ability to select a theatrical narrative. There are letters to
provoke; letters to evoke empathy and tears, Lindy’s favourites to cheer her up
and brighten her world with laughter. There is verbatim commentary and trial
transcript. There is an hilarious opening song to the second act, and a final
moving lullaby to Azaria. The words fly from the page, honest and true from the
hearts and minds of family, friends, strangers, children, the accusers, the
defenders, the wise and the ignorant, the rational and the irrational. With the
deft touch of an artisan, Valentine conjures her exceptional work. At times,
performers, Jane Phegan, Glen Hazeldine and Phillip Hinton play the Chorus to
Jeanette Cronin’s Lindy. At other times, they morph into the authors of the
letters or characters in Lindy’s life. Director Yapp directs his excellent team
of professional actors with a keen eye for the theatricality of Valentine’s
work, and avoiding the pitfall of documented research upon the stage. This
production bursts with the vitality of survival. Injected with passion, laced
with humour and daubed with poignancy Letters to Lindy displays the various shades of
Life’s humanity.
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| Glen Hazeldine. Jeanette Cronin as Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton and Jane Phegan. Photo by Lisa Tomasetti |
No newspaper account; no
television documentary, no book can do justice to this iconic event in
Australia’s legal, political and social history. The art of theatre, when
expressed as powerfully as in this play, does far more to reveal the human
condition and our response to an event as dramatic as the Lindy Chamberlain
case. We are reminded, with startling authenticity and theatrical poignancy and
power that at the heart of this event is a woman, a wife, a mother who went on
a holiday with her new born child and found herself and her loved ones engulfed in a nightmare. As
Marc Antony says to the gathered crowd in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar “If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.”
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| Glen Hazeldine and Phillip Hinton in Letters to Lindy. Photo by David James McCarthy |
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| Jeanette Cronin as Lindy with Jane Phegan and Phillip Hinton Photo by David James McCarthy |
Merrigong Theatre Company in
association with the Canberra Theatre Centre and with the assistance of Lindy
Chamberlain-Creighton and the National Library of Australia is to be applauded
for its production of an outstanding play by a luminary Australian playwright,
with a first class director , an excellent
ensemble of actors and a highly professional production team.
Letters to Lindy should be seen on every stage. On this Census Day
it also provides a telling snapshot of who we are. Don’t miss it.
