All the Things I Couldn’t Say

How many times have we all wished we had phrased a comment differently, or, worse still, said something that for many reasons we chose not to say?

This is the premise of RUMPUS Theatre and Deus Ex Femina’s latest production All The Things I Couldn’t Say. Written and directed by Katherine Sortini, inspired by the poignant confessions on the website The Unsent Project (definitely worth a look), this multi-disciplinary vignette show brings together the raw emotions and untold stories from anonymous individuals across the globe.

The production is set on multi-level rostra and backed by three large screens that serve as the ‘teaser’ for each sketch and the backdrop for the audiovisual elements of the production.

All The Things I Couldn’t Say investigates the way we communicate. Do we always say exactly what we intend, or do we self-edit our comments, weakening them? What would happen if we actually said precisely what is on our mind?

In these days of texting/messaging becoming the dominant form of communication, this production asks us to stop and take stock of the way we communicate and its effectiveness.

It is a clever concept, devised by RUMPUS/Domina Ex Femina. Katherine Sortini (Lead writer/story & director) handles some extremely difficult subjects (death, suicide, drugs, trans death and eating disorders) sensitively, dispersing them with humour to keep the pace moving and modulate the mood.

Mark Oakley’s lighting design and Nic Mollison’s AV lighting/AV operation takes us ‘inside the heads’ of the performers allowing us to share their innermost thoughts. From discos to solo spots the lighting appropriately complements the thoughts being portrayed as does Sascha Budimski’s sound design.

The six performers, Arran Beattie, Caithlin O’Loghlen, Kate Bonney, Zola Allen, Eddie Morrison, and Tumelo Nthupi, slip in and out of  numerous characters with ease and when not onstage sit at floor level, either side of the stage on their mobiles.

The sketches are linked by a central sketch of two puppeteers performing a children’s show. The beginning of this sketch remains constant, but the ensuing dialogue changes each time the sketch is repeated to show different reactions. An inventive device.

Other sketches include – society’s response to breastfeeding and motherhood, a mobile phone conversation about an affair ending, visiting an AI cemetery, facing an eating disorder, and using a sexline as a lifeline. At the conclusion of the production the whole ensemble is left with an earth-shattering dilemma, how will they deal with it?

Even though the performance space at Flinders University is small, I still found it hard to hear some of the dialogue over the soundscape, particularly in the Rap sections, but this should be easily rectified.

All The Things I couldn’t Say is an intriguing theatre piece that will have you thinking and leave you with questions about your own life to ponder!

Barry Hill OAM

Images by Jamois.