Review: NIGHT SLOWS DOWN Presents The Faults Of Contemporary Society, Concentrated Into One Family's Experience With Immigration, Progress And National Pride

Tuesday 28th November 2017, 7:30pm, KXT Kings Cross

The World Premiere of Phillip James Rouse' (writer and director) new work NIGHT SLOWS DOWN is confronting and compelling as it contemplates what society would look like if all the prejudice, greed, ignorance and arrogance of society were condensed into a single being. In a world where many western world countries are facing the challenge of balancing immigration with integration and progress and environmental responsibility, this 75 minute work is crammed full of current concerns.

The three-hander is presented as interwoven snapshots of two divergent timelines that give history to the unfolding events. Whilst referencing the 2001 Burnley Riots in England, the work is universal, further reiterated by Rouse's decision to have the story told with a predominantly Australian voice. The audience is first introduced to the middle aged Sharon (Danielle King) and her weedy younger brother Seth (Andre de Vanny) in the first of the flashbacks, announced with a projection on the mottled red ochre walls that bookend the traverse stage which is contained within a barrier of lights down the length of the stage. It unfolds that Seth objects to Sharon's choice of husband, a Middle Eastern immigrant Martin (Johnny Nasser) who Seth repeatedly refers to as a 'cockroach', but is still trying to reconcile with his estranged sister following the death of their father. Whilst one storyline progresses forward in time, showing a demise in society and the inevitable destruction of the city as Martin is detained for being an immigrant regardless of any former legal validity and Seth is put in charge of a major civil engineering project despite his lack of experience, the other storyline of the trio's past of a not so hostile history is exposed.

Anna Gardiner and Martelle Hunt's production design captures the contemporary industrial architecture of Rouse's dystopian world with a flexibility that allows it to serve as Sharon and Martin's home and Seth's offices overlooking the ill-fated construction site. Gardiner and Hunt have kept the costuming simple with minor changes to indicate the change in time but all generally having a darkness in keeping with the bleak world that is unfolding, in contrast to the light and free world prior to the hate and destruction taking hold. Rouse has also designed the sound which shocks between scenes and is possibly a touch too intense for the intimate space of KXT theatre. Whilst a gripping story, the soundtrack should probably not require a defibrillator to be on hand. Sian James-Holland's lighting captures changing moods and allows some scenes to be kept in The Shadows, from Seth's thuggish behaviour and Martin's wasting away in a prison cell, to bright lights an interrogation in Seth's office and the comfortable space of Sharon and Martin's home.

Danielle King captures the heart of the story as Sharon battles against her racist egotistical misogynistic brother Seth but she ensures that the audience also sees that Sharon isn't perfect. She ensures that Sharon is strong and smart, loving and forgiving but also flawed as she admits she was also at Burnley Square, caught up in the excitement of the horrific acts of prejudice and violence. Sharon's husband Martin is portrayed by Johnny Nasser as a likeable character, ensuring that he is seen as someone who has integrated and become part of his adopted home, reinforcing how vile Seth's prejudice is in its unfounded anger. Martin does however have a somewhat patriarchal view of his relationship to Sharon, exhibited in his insistence that she not resume contact with her brother but as the timelines diverge, Nasser alludes to the possibility that Martin wasn't always as dominant in their relationship.

Andre De Vanny creates a wonderful expression of the utterly contemptable ambitious Seth, ensuring that at no point is he in any way likable. De Vanny ensures that the audience sees Seth as an amalgam of the worst of society and even when he is trying to reconcile with Sharon, it is clear that he cannot be trusted. Through Seth, Rouse exposes the male dominated society where men are rewarded over women regardless of ability or lack thereof. He sees people as disposable with no regard for human life if they don't look like him, a viewpoint that the world thought we were well past until the rise of certain political figures has proven that society hasn't really progressed that much.

NIGHT SLOWS DOWN is a compelling and confronting work that makes the audience re-evaluate their responses as they become uncomfortable with the concentration of the worst of society. Well-presented if a little on the loud side for the intimate space, this is well worth seeing.

NIGHT SLOWS DOWN

17 November - 9 December 2017

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