Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad
Translated by Linda Gaboriau
Company BThe former leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic was captured just this week after fourteen years on the run. Born in what is now Montenegro, he is most famous for mobilising Serbs in Bosnia against the Muslim and Croatian populations.
The area is now an autonomous zone in the northern part of Bosnia called Srpska Republika.
Radovan Karadzic faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity inflicted on Bosnian Muslim, Bosnian Croat and other non-Serb civilians in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He certainly isn't the only perpetrator, but was certainly one of the chief proponents of a war that the New York Times says had an estimated death toll of "150,000 to 200,000 and United Nations investigators have concluded that the deaths were accompanied by as many as 20,000 rapes."
Some of the worst cases of genocide occurred in the the Srpska Republika region which is an extremely beautiful part of the world. The mountains, the rivers, the small towns each became a hell hole for a people that watched as cousin fought cousin and brother fought brother.
The Balkan peninsula is a very small part of the world and for anyone who has ever been there, it makes the horror of the nineties even more unfathomable. Everyone knows everyone in Yugoslavia. From Macedonia to Slovenia, everyone is the friend of a friend of a friend. Which makes people like Karadzic all the more inexplicable.
The thing about the Balkans, despite all the western European prejudice, is it is so easy to see your own society and your own people in the atrocities.
Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad creates a very similar world in some non-descript Middle Eastern country. It could be Afghanistan, it could be Iraq, it could be Jerusalem and it could very well be Srebrenica.
Twins Simon (Ashley Lyons) and Janine (Yael Stone) are in the small and dusty office of notary Alphonso Lebel (Brian Lipson). Executing the will of their mother Nawal (played over three generations by Zindzi Okenyo, Paula Arundell and Gillian Jones), Simon and Janine find themselves with the task of finding their long lost father and brother as part of the conditions.
Over three hours, the epic tale is set out, taking us to the very early times of their mother's life, her early loves, her village and eventually her escape through a war torn land.
Simon and Janine are forced to reconcile their own tempestuous relationship with their mother who remained silent for the last five years of her life and back track through her life to discover the truth of their mother's life and their origins.
I don't think that Neil Armfield has tackled something of such breadth since Cloudstreet, in what is a shocking and emotionally draining theatrical experience.
Scorched is one of those landmark plays, a play that only occasionally comes along and sums up the very era you live in. It is the true theatrical exploration that looks at our global village, our relationships with one another, personal responsibility and our age of the butterfly effect. 'From little things, big things grow'.
Set designer Stephen Curtis has created a world of sand that covers over some ancient floor Mosaic. With rustic back walls, the play flows seamlessly from the notary's office to the funeral to villages in the middle of valleys. It is at times beautifully effective but it seems to have had many theatrical limitations (how many things can you do with a bucket of sand?).
The lighting by Nigel Levings was, in short, a phenomenal discovery that took risks that payed off, creatively complimenting the words, the action and the mood of the piece.
The highlight, apart from the considered and excellent performances was the live music by Carl Dewhurst. It is astonishing to think that such marked subtlety from a musician who usually plays in jazz bands could have got the tone of this piece so wonderfully right. This was his debut and I truly hope it is not his last venture onto Sydney's stages.
I can't speak of this show highly enough. There were some inconsistencies, some problems with vocalisation and a few over spoken lines, but Scorched is one of those rare beasts that is a pure indulgence for the avid lover of theatre.
After so many fifty-five minute junkets around town, it was a pleasure and a delight to have a show that you have to sit yourself in and let it run over you. It is a novel of a piece that brings you closer to understanding the Balkanised world we live in, with all its complexities, its misunderstandings and its compassion.
Until 7 September
Directed by Neil Armfield assistant director Wayne Blair set design Stephen Curtis costume design Anna Borghesi lighting design Nigel Levings composers Alan John and Carl Dewhurst sound design Steve Toulmin with Paula Arundell Carl Dewhurst Adam Hatz Gillian Jones Brian Lipson Ashley Lyons Lucia Mastrantone Zindzi Okenyo Hazem Shammas George Spartels and Yael Stone.
