Thirty Nine

Fresh Theatre for Social Change is an insightful and socially relevant theatre company, located in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. Their work engenders discussion on prevalent topics that surround us each day. Executive Director Sharyn Mullens Taylor explains their philosophical stance by 'using the medium of theatre we encourage the strong, give support to the timid, remind the indifferent and warn the oppressor.'

Their latest offering is Thirty Nine - 39 scenes that represent the 39% of people in Australia that die each year from domestic abuse. An often tense and difficult discussion, Thirty Nine enables the visual and visceral truths to come to the forefront and unashamedly smacks the audience in the face with the harsh realities that sometimes we just want to overlook.

No set amount of actors - but the need for an extremely strong ensemble - strong of mind and of openness.

This cast, and I will mention them all by name, worked brilliantly alongside each other - each accenting the whole performance, supporting one another through what would have been a harrowing rehearsal period, given the nature of the content.

Director Sharyn Mullens Taylor should be ecstatically proud of her entire cast. She couldn't have asked more of them; they gave it their whole, and the audience could clearly see the sheer amount of work that has gone in to putting together a production of this type.

The cast comprised of Jordan Stack, Deanna Simmons, Imogen Kalischa, Paige Burney, Michelle Robertson, Callum Naismith, Nathan Sadeshi, and John Jacobs.

Each actor played numerous roles in any number of different situations when they were the abuser or being abused.

Each scene had no linear storyline, nor reoccurring characters - a perfect balance of humorous and somber vignettes to explore the main focus of domestic abuse in a variety of situations, each scene accented by juxtaposing frantic electronic music. It is open to be played in a large or tiny black box theatre.

It would be impossible to comment on all thirty nine scenes, so I will comment on the ones that touched me most profoundly.

- Falling: "I fell" is the mantra adopted by the entire cast. Each taking on multiple personas in 50 (or so) tableaux, all to justify their situations they are living within.

- Escape Button: a number of the ensemble frantically packing clothing into bags, to come to a sudden halt of silence when footsteps are heard on the stairs.

- Run Like a Girl: a young girl leaving her boyfriend goes to stay at her parents, where she is molly-coddled by her mum and insulted by her brother.

- White Ribbon: a movement piece between a young couple. It used the entire stage, effectively accented by the use of a white ribbon to depict the abuse.

- BabyBaby: an open bare stage with a baby crying sfx in the background (as a mother myself, this scene enveloped me whole).

- Big: "just forget about it and it will go away", "get some men, some brutish men to move it aside".... Because domestic abuse is the largest unspoken topic in Australia (and quite possibly the World) right now.

This is social theatre at its pure greatest. Thirty Nine is a MUST see for all students and adults alike. This play will stay with me for a very long time.

Penelope Thomas