Reviews

Eight people are lost to suicide each day in Australia and globally it happens every 40 seconds.

Shocking as that statistic is, the devastation wreaked by suicide doesn’t stop with the tragic finality of the actual act. Across the world, from the second after the tragedy occurs, families and friends must deal with lifetimes of facing the reality of their loss.

Destroy, She Said is part of the new Duras: Desire & Destruction season at La Mama. Four guests in an isolated hotel in the midst of a forest; a tennis game is heard but never seen, a strange card game that is somewhat foreboding. Is there madness looming? Or is this a gathering of post- holocaust  German Jews seeking rebirth?

Though this solo performance may, at first glance, appear to be a tale of autobiography by its performer – such is the passion and personal touch with which Amer Hlehel presents it – Taha is, in fact, a spirited, richly textured telling of selected experiences from the life of Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali (1931-2011).

Azza is one of the most compelling pieces of theatre I have seen. It is like a well-structured piece of choreographed verse that, from the first minutes, lures you into one of the most poignant and painful times in the lives of those who love and are loved.

A capella chants are used as blessings, creating a trance-like state for the players and the audience, linking stories and changes of mood throughout the hour of the performance.