The Bleeding Tree
The Bleeding Tree made its WA debut at The Blue Room in November 2021, with the same director and design team. Due to its high impact, ability to touch an audience and its success, it has been picked up by Black Swan State Theatre Company and is now playing to larger audiences. Set in an isolated Australian town, this is an hour-long tale about women who have greeted the abusive man of the house with a deadly rifle shot, and are now dealing with the result of that action.
Like its Blue Room predecessor, this incarnation features a cast of three First Nations women. Karla Hart as Mum and Ebony McGuire as Ada are joined by Stephanie Somerville as Ida, and form a very believable and united trio. Their delivery is almost as one, as they work together, in a presentational style to relate what has happened and portray additional characters. Shared storytelling that is highly poetic, with at times an almost staccato delivery, this is both emotive and striking.
A demanding show that is an emotional journey for both actors and audience, it was interrupted on opening night, when a key technical moment late in the show (you’ll know what it is when you see it), failed to happen, the audience were removed to the foyer, and the show resumed after a ten-minute break.
The audience by this time had bonded with both actors and characters, and were feeling very sorry for both the situation in the story, and the situation on stage. Not an easy task to restart a show that is so emotive, impressively the cast resumed seamlessly, and the show continued at its excellent standard.
Tyler Hill’s latticework set created for the Blue Room evoked both a cage and domesticity, and at first it seemed that this production was going to replicate that design. This production takes that intimacy and allows it to almost imperceptibly expand - a beautiful touch that adds so much. Chloe Ogilvie’s lighting design is again strong and stark, with Rachael Dease’s composition and earthy sound design blending organically with the story.
This is a strong production that tells a sad but often too familiar story, in a stunning and unusual way. Well directed and intelligently acted, The Bleeding Tree is captivating theatre.
Kimberley Shaw
Photographer: Daniel J. Grant
Click here to buy a script of The Bleeding Tree at Book Nook
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