★★★★☆
In times of political crisis and economic downturn, it is common for the arts to turn towards a nostalgia for the ‘glorious’ past. Subverse Theatre’s Silence, however, is anything but a lament for bygone eras. It is a very contemporary look at political turmoil through the lens of a pre-Medieval Britain.
Written by Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winner Moira Buffini and directed by Freya Patience, Silence is an end-of-the-millennium hallucination of apocalyptic dreams, identity crises, cross-dressing and religious clash. Balancing melodramatic comedy and visceral storytelling, it interrogates religion, gender, warfare and power-play in a country on the brink of collapse.
The play follows a motley crew forced together on a desperate road-trip to escape the wrath of a sadistically paranoid King Ethelred (Declan Magee). Driven by Buffini’s fast-paced storyline and Patience’s sharp direction, the journey is brought to life by the collective brilliance of the cast, whose electrifying dynamic creates a magnetic force field that both anchors and propels the production.
Magee creates a humorous depiction of the bed-bound, prophetic, unhinged King Ethelred, whose blasé menace bears a strong resemblance to King Joffrey (Game of Thrones) and King George (Hamilton).
The story is propelled by his quickly regretted decision to marry off the disgraced Princess Ymma of Normandy (Morgan Godfrey) to the 14-year-old Viking-worshipping Lord Silence of Cumbria (Lily Thomson), before becoming obsessed with marrying Ymma himself.
Godfrey’s Ymma brings out a nuanced portrayal of female rage of a young maiden trapped within a restrictive patriarchal society and caught in a tug-of-war between the unhinged King and his turncoat bodyguard Eadric (Sebastian Langkamer). The trauma and abuse she experienced have embittered her outlook on life.
However, she still holds onto a powerful resilience for love, life and determination that was compellingly brought out by Godfrey. Her relationship with the young but valiant Silence, especially, is beautifully touching.
Devout, sexually repressed and obsessed-with-his-own-name, Lachlan Hughes brings well-timed comedic energy to Roger, the flailing spiritual guide attempting to convert Silence to Christianity. Hughes and Chelsea Rabl’s Agnés (Ymma’s frazzled maid) act as the comedic foil to Ymma and Silence. Both gave an invigorating performance that sparked many laughs from the audience.
While starting off light-hearted, a hilarious series of comedy of errors quickly takes the story down a darker turn. The further into the story the performance moves, the deeper audiences are dipped into the harrowing quagmire of the brutal power-play of first-century Britain.
The descent into harsh interrogations of imperialist violence and patriarchal ruthlessness is amplified by an intuitive, atmospheric soundscape by John Sharp, sparsely but precisely used to drive the emotional pulse of the show.
Harsh hypnotic lighting in Ethelred’s scenes contrast with the warm glow of the travellers in an astute and immaculately crafted series of lighting designs by Sam Martin.
This is not a show that romanticises the past. Nor even a Middle Age story (despite beautiful costumes by Freya and Sharron Patience). The versatile minimalist set by Adelaide Jones merges beds, carts and caves the way the show collapses time and space.
On the surface, Silence may appear as an entertaining comedy aesthetically grounded in medieval Britain. In reality, the story holds a mirror to prevailing conflicts within the turbulent 21st-century world.
Silence is presented by Subverse Theatre and runs to 18 July at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute. 270 Sydney Road Brunswick Vic 3056.
Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/silence-a-play
Website: https://www.subversetheatre.net/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/silence.the.play/ and https://www.instagram.com/subverse_theatre/
Photo credits: Isabella Ando
Content warnings: Not recommended for children under 12. This production contains strong language, drug use, sexual content, violence, references to sexual assault, torture, and war.
