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X Ray Mongrel Productions Dame Roma Building, AIT Arts Until 14 March Writer Chris Tugwell takes on the most important and far-reaching issue of the nascent 21st Century - the United States' response to terrorism and specifically the abrogation of natural justice. He does so through the tragedy of Australian David Hicks' open-ended incarceration at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba - he has been held without charge since he was picked up in a bounty hunt in Afghanistan in December 2001. The Australian government has done almost nothing to right this wrong, and it's only because of the media attention given to expressions of outrage like Tugwell's play that the government has been shamed into doing anything at all. The audience is immediately moved when confronted with the 1.7 x 2.4 x 2.4 metre cyclone-fenced cage in which Hicks lies sleeping like an animal at the zoo. At the side of the cage is a representative of the land of the free and the home of the brave - a military prison guard. Director Geoff Crowhurst has information about the situation scrolling in silence down the cyclorama - the facts are succinctly and dramatically laid out - and throughout the play, military camp announcements add to the stark atmosphere. The effect is shocking and depressing. Tugwell evokes your sympathy, anger and maybe even guilt through the stark realisation of Hicks' conditions and by demonstrating Hicks' humanity through his reactions, monologues and attempts to connect with the guard. Clearly, he is not one of the most dangerous people in the world as the Foreign Minister claims. While the production design (Gaelle Mellis - consultant) is highly effective as installation art, the dulling routine of David Hicks' day and the certain knowledge that nothing is going to change - as the play is based on the facts - weakens the drama. Nonetheless, Nathan O'Keefe as Hicks shows you amply what it must be like. This is the most important work of the Fringe and I personally am grateful to Tugwell for his integrity and courage, and cleverly non-judgemental play. If you don't know what's going on, or if you want to enquire about an opportunity to participate in the fight for justice, you better see this show. |
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