Review: THE SEED at Subiaco Arts Centre

Crafted from personal experience, Kate Mulvany’s THE SEED explores people’s connections to their family and their family’s connections to place. As the family navigates the repercussions of many conflicts -from personal to international- expert storytelling and sharp and witty dialogue bring the audience well and truly into the midst of the dynamic, in what is a fitting close to BLACK SWAN Theatre Company’s 2024 season.

THE SEED was first presented in 2007, at the time a semi-autobiographical reckoning with the past that playwright Kate Mulvany was living. In the ensuing years the play has evolved, as much from changes within Kate and the Mulvany family as from responses to the play itself. Then, as with now, it is easy for the audience to find parallels within their own lives and family dynamic, regardless of their connection with the Vietnam War or The Troubles in Northern Ireland. As the central figure Rose is Tegan Mulvany, whose inherent familial connection to the material drives an outstanding performance. Rose finds herself listless in life but driven to connect with her family, partially from curiosity and partially to kickstart an ailing journalism career. Mulvany’s performance allows the audience to genuinely connect with her, from communicating with minute changes in expression and voice, to impassioned recollections of life growing up in Geraldton. As her father Danny (and the unwitting middle-man in many of the exchanges) is Steve Turner. Turner wonderfully encapsulates the familiar-to-many role of a person continually trying to leave the past behind them in a family that refuses to do so. Turner’s dealing with the physical and mental scars from his upbringing and time in the Vietnam War are raw and emotionally charged.

The family unit is led by Geoff Kelso as Brian, an ex-IRA operative and domineering father, far prouder of his other sons who were imprisoned for assault than he is of Danny, who he sees as having fled to Australia. Kelso’s ability to instantly turn from fatherly and grandfatherly warmth to family shame adds to the atmosphere whilst adding an air of familiarity for many.

The set (designed my Zoë Atkinson) is mainly stacks of cardboard boxes with some features of a living room, however the boxes themselves cleverly morph from set to props, their purpose becoming apparent through the progression of the show. Videos (by Mark Haslam and Jessica Russell) contribute greatly to the atmosphere where needed; the flowing sea allowing the audience to link their own experiences with Rose, for example). Lucy Birkinshaw’s lighting and Ben Collins’ sound add further layers, exercising restraint at points but giving warmth or worry at others. Matt Edgerton’s directing balances all the elements in perfect harmony, not allowing the atmosphere to get too light or heavy.

There are many elements of the Irish/English/Australian heritage within the play, enough for anyone with any of those heritages to recognise. Danny leans on his Nottingham dialect, Rose’s recollection of life growing up could be any Australian seaside town, and Brian sings The Auld Triangle- perhaps the most obvious but not the only suggestion that families can be like a prison- at the beginning. Indeed, whilst the themes of the play seem very specific, Kate Mulvany’s writing ensures that the experiences of the characters are somewhat universal. Leaning into the familiarity, the sometimes weighty subject matter and themes are easily relieved by frequent moments of humour, whether it draws a smile from being recognisable or a laugh from being genuinely funny. As such, THE SEED brings the audience on a journey that they easily feel apart of, indeed it may be a journey that they themselves are on or have been on. As such, as entertaining as it is, THE SEED is so much more, be it an exploration of family and heritage, an honest look at how things stay with us both mentally and physically, or just a frank assertion that regardless of how well you know someone, they still have room for secrets. However you look at it, THE SEED is an excellent piece of theatre and a punchy conclusion to BLACK SWAN Theatre’s outstanding 2024 season.

THE SEED is at Subiaco Arts Centre until November 17. Tickets and more information available from BLACK SWAN Theatre Company.

Pictures thanks to Daniel J Grant.

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