Two teenage girls, on the verge of womanhood, stand facing the congregation, aka the audience, as we file in. The sound of the priest’s whining, hectoring voice can be heard urging us to stick to the straight & narrow, to protect ourselves from the corruption of our traditional values - “for what are we if not our beliefs and traditions”, in which there is no room for sexual immorality. To drive the point home the priest quotes frequently from the Bible, invariably verses to do with same-sex attraction. And there it is - Chekhov’s Revolver.
From church and hymns we pivot sharply to these “crypto women” frolicking beside the creek, surrounded by bushland - drinking, smoking, talking about boys and sex and life and the future. The contrast of tone could not be more pronounced. Where the atmosphere in the church was oppressive, the priest’s admonishments cliche-ridden and hypocritical, the dialogue here has a freshness and authenticity, bursting with life and possibility, or, at least, possibility for one - Essie (Rhiannon Jean), who expresses her frustration with the prospect of spending her life in this conservative backwater. By contrast, her friend Beth (Ava Jones) seems content with the status quo, and the idea of a simple, conventional future married to her boyfriend Samson. Here we have it - the essence (no pun intended) of the play’s conflict.
Cue the dramatic music, the altered lighting state. Disturbed sounds off, a cry, a name yelled in pain - “Samson”! A young man rushes on stage - Sid (Samuel Ireland). He has been swimming. There’s been an accident; Samson’s hurt. He’s not breathing. “I think he’s dead”.
In the space of a few short minutes, we have been presented with three intense states of being, and the foundations of the entire play. The economy, the speed, the dramatic power is impressive. There is an almost Greek tragedy quality to it, and all that remains is to have the mechanics of those hidden forces revealed to us, and the dark secrets. For there are always dark secrets - mistakes, character flaws, something that has offended the gods and led to this tragedy. With a name like Samson how could it be otherwise?
Lewis’s play explores all this and more. But if we thought we knew how this would all devolve, Lewis has a surprise up her sleeve - a rabbit. Into this sombre, traumatised community bounces a fifteen year old youth, Rabbit (Henry Lopez Lopez). Like a huge rock thrown into a stagnant pond, Rabbit creates waves, disturbing the natural order of things and upending allegiances. Essie, who hankers for escape and freedom, initially finds his unbridled vivacity and curiosity irritating, but gradually succumbs to his youthful charm, whereas Sid & Beth, the bulwarks of convention, resent this intruder. Their resentment builds to a climax of shocking violence that impacts everyone, culminating in the torture of Rabbit with fire - like a symbolic burning at the stake, and all in the shadow of the church, literally.
Max Shaw’s set design expertly takes full advantage of the Greek Theatre’s thrust stage, with several zones designated for different geographic and emotional states: the church, the bush, the creek, the bridge over the highway. But it is the physical presence of the church that casts the longest shadow, a physical presence that constantly reminds us of the words of the priest that we heard but didn’t attend to as we, Father Morrison’s “beloved congregation”, shuffled into our seats. His is the only ‘adult’ voice we hear throughout the play, for which the edifice of the church stands as a symbol. It is the voice of “two thousand years of church teaching”, but in truth it is the voice of the God of the Old Testament, and just as the Old Testament Samson brought the temple crashing down, so too does his namesake.
What impressed me about this debut production by the new born Luminar Theatre Co, was ... everything: from the subtle and skillful lighting and sound design, to the assured set design, all of which deftly heightened the emotional power of the entire cast’s performances, which uniformly pulsed with authenticity and freshness, no mean feat when you have young adults portraying teenagers. I was particularly impressed with Lopez’s touching depiction of the confused, hurt but life-affirming Rabbit. Lewis’s clever, insightful script has been sensitively brought to life for the stage by the assured guiding hand of Chloe Callow, in her first full-length directing effort.
“Samson” is playing at the Greek Theatre in Marrickville till Oct 11th