Review by Greg Gorton
Anatomy of a Suicide is one of the most challenging but worthwhile plays of the 21st century. It takes courage to attempt to put on a production of this work, but there is no better company than Heartstring Theatre to do so. The play I attended was ambitious, was gut-wrenching, and will likely stay with me for a very long time.
Alice Birch’s play is about mental health, female empowerment, love, freedom, but most of all about the relationships we form with our past - and even the past of the past. It follows three generations of suffering women, each deeply affected by the one before, as they attempt to grasp hold to a reality they struggle to survive in.
Some may say I have no right to criticise, but I personally think Birch fails to capture mental illness particularly well compared to her contemporaries or those before her. I see little of worth to compare (as some do) to the greats like Woolf, Plath, or Kane. Likewise, there appears a failing in the writing to properly explore the question of genetics vs experience. However, with its musical structure, played like a three-stringed lute, and its clearly defined three main roles, I could see the play having longevity for those wanting contemporary plays that punch. For Heartstring Theatre, a company in which the exploration of female identity plays an important part in their decision making, this is an insightful choice.
In her introduction to Metheun Drama’s publication of Anatomy of a Suicide, Ava Wong writes of its premiere that “It’s only right that Anatomy should be staged
end-on—anything more immersive would feel unbearably close.” Director Katie Smith, whether she was aware of this opinion or not, laid down the gauntlet to herself, the audience, and those who will interpret this play in the future, by choosing instead to present the play with audiences either side of the long, traverse, stage.
The use of a traverse stage is filled with risks, and was a bold choice by Smith. On a practical level, it was a boon having lighting designed by Georgie Wolf on board. At no point in the play did the actors fall in shadow, or audience members be blinded by poorly angled lighting. Not content with providing this difficult-to-create base, Wolf’s design incorporated colour sparingly, and without pretension.
Smith’s blocking was also, for the most part, right on the money. The unavoidable experience of having actors play with their backs turned to particular audience members would not have been experienced any better or worse in any particular seat. There is a scene towards the end of the play where one side of the stage benefited more, but it was not a long scene, and easy to forgive.
The bigger issue I faced with experiencing Alice Birch’s play in the traverse is the psychological impact of distance-to-action. The three stories would play out simultaneously but an audience member would, without intention or exception, connect more closely with the scene they were more close to physically. It’s my opinion that these would cause vastly different experiences for audience members, and not in an overly positive way.
The question of Wong’s comment : was the play “unbearably close”? Yes. That’s part of what made this production so effective, the inability to escape.
The acting in Heartstring Theatre’s production is world class. The three stars (“lead” doesn’t properly express my reaction) are captivating in unique ways.
I expected nothing less than greatness from Elisa Armstrong as Bonnie, a character whose anger could so easily be played over the top. I was especially moved by the scene in which Bonnie reacted poorly to the family member of a patient, as well as one in which the character deals with a nosey neighbour child.
Erin Perrey, as a young and out-of-control Anna is, in many ways, the essential glue of this production - the script demands an Anna that represents the thread between past and present, the possibly-linear path of madness, and the exploration of both motherhood and childhood at once. There are multiple scenes in the play which could have an audience permanently turn against this character, but it is difficult to not empathise with the lost woman that Perrey offers up on stage.
For me, personally, the most captivating actor was Ashleigh Coleman. Without a doubt, some will compare her portrayal of Carol to January Jones in Mad Men, or perhaps one of the Stepford Wives… the story she tells is more in the words not said. Coleman’s performance is so powerful that when other scenes become the focus of the production, I still found myself drawn to the silent woman and the quiet argument going through her head.
This is not to say that only the leads are worth mentioning. The supporting actors, too, are engaging and impactful in their performances. While yes, some appear more comfortable in one role over the other, this is rarely not found in even the best of productions. I want to especially praise Frances Lee, though, for a chameleon-like performance which created fully three-dimensional characters, even when the script offered only a few lines.
It is quite a difficult task to have lines constantly bouncing between heads, said conjointly, and moving back and forth between separate conversations like a melodic instrument. Birch’s script also insists on some scenes running over the top of each other, a discordant mess of noise. This is, unsurprisingly, quite a challenge for even the most adept of actors and so it is impressive that, for the most part, the challenge was met on this stage.
While the costumes are in no way impressive, and are not the best indicators of the eras in which the play is set, there is something to be said about how costume (and set) changes in this production are done. They are many times incorporated on stage, a visual narrative added to the piece that I quite enjoyed. I had hoped that all such transitions worked this way, as it was very effective story-telling.
I want to describe the sound design for Anatomy of a Suicide by using the analogy of a painting with a white background. The background isn’t raw canvas, and the thickness of the paint, the texture of the strokes, make a subtle but important addition to the painting. Something the same can be said of Grace Ferguson’s work, which adds drama and tension, evokes empathy and anger, and never fails to heighten the work, even if most might never realise what an essential role it has played.
Anatomy of a Suicide is a challenging play to produce, to watch, and to come to terms with as it sits in your mind. For me, this production cements permanently my belief that Heartstring Theatre is the most reliable company in Melbourne for its ability to find the best creatives, and bring them together to produce high quality theatre. If, for some reason, you miss this amazing production, at very least keep an eye on the news for their next project - without a doubt, it will be just as amazing.
