Love-Lies-Bleeding

This is an intriguing and talent-filled production of New Yorker, Don De Lillo’s 2005 play. Directed by the experienced writer/director/performer, Michael Futcher, this streamlined two-act production perfectly suits Misterton Street’s intimate studio space. And the director has found a balance in the tone with some very confident and engaging performances which sway between the poetic and dramatic.

In Love-Lies-Bleeding, we are introduced to 70-year-old Alex (John Stibbard) – a painter who has three ex-wives. With his much younger fourth wife, Lia (Carla Haynes) he is thoughtful and philosophical, quietly recovering from a first stroke and reminiscing about his childhood. His opening speech about seeing a dead person for the first time on the New York subway is a haunting and prescient subconscious stream. John’s stage presence is easy and relaxed and he draws you in to Alex’s story. Carla intrigues as the passionate Lia – perhaps she cares more about Alex’s art than he does? But then the remote and quiet desert setting is disturbed as Alex’s second ex-wife, Toinette (Helen Howard) and his son by his first marriage, Sean (Spencer Cliff) arrive. Helen Howard brings her incredible stage experience to this interesting role – torn between her responsibility to ex-partner, Alex and his art, her mothering instincts to stepson, Sean, and her empathy with Lia. It’s a complicated role delivered deftly. When Toinette deadpans: “I couldn’t get to sleep last night – there are mice in the walls” you know she has woken up at 3.30am worrying about every little thing – making light of a situation that is so much more in this case. Spencer Cliff’s musical theatre background give his performance a perfect rhythm – his New York anxiety and comic timing are brilliant. When the reality of Alex’s condition becomes clear, the discussions that ensue are held with pace, and very well handled by the director and his cast.

The difficult subject matter, triggering for anyone who has witnessed a loved one depart this life – is lightened by De Lillo’s poetry, plus some level-headed humour. And the theme is totally pertinent to us all. As Brian Clark asked with his much earlier (1972) Whose Life Is It Anyway? – would you want to be kept ‘alive’ if that meant not leading your life as you knew it? In both plays, the main character is (or has been) an artist. The stage setting here (a wonderful creation by set and costume designer, Ada Lukin) clues us in – somewhere between a wind-swept wooden retreat and a scattering of discarded painter’s easels. Time’s shifts, shadows and mist (lighting design by Madelyne Leite) take us deeper into the landcape. All that is missing is Alex’s artwork, but that is created in words. I loved the script’s Shakespearean repetition of a string of desert plants – Love Lies Bleeding is one such – a kind of mantra connecting Alex to the earth and the next life. I’m still curious about casting two actors as Alex, but perhaps that is because, in his ill state, he is a different person. As Alex in extremis is former director, designer, actor and playwright, Greg Gesch, bringing that unspoken wealth of art and empathy to this difficult role.

This production has combined some interesting talents from a mix of experiences and backgrounds, in typical Ad Astra style, including the backstage creatives: assistant Director, Tom Pocilujko and lighting design and tech, Madelyne Leite are both from Queensland University of Technology’s acting course; stage manager, Hayley Smith, has worked in Sydney and Canberra; composer, Zachary Miezio, graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium and also works as a conductor; Spencer also performs in musical theatre, John is a set designer and set builder; Carla is a core team member of Improv Queensland; Helen and Michael run Matrix Theatre, and their work with Ad Astra is another interesting collaboration for Brisbane’s flourishing indie scene.

Find out more: www.adastracreativity.com/productions/love-lies-bleeding

Beth Keehn

Photo Credit: Ad Astra