Oil

Black Swan State Theatre Company’s Oil is a beautifully presented production, acted with strength and vitality. It tells a fascinating story.

Oil looks at the history of the ‘age of oil’ as if it spanned the lifetime of a single person, albeit one whose lifetime spans a good deal more than one would usually expect – playing with time and space in an interesting way.  We meet our protagonist May as a pregnant farmer’s wife in Cornwall in the late 1800s – as she discovers the wonders of oil for heating and lighting – a symbol of hope in a dark existence. We next find May in the early 1900s as living with her young daughter in the Middle East as the British oil industry begins to take hold. By the 1970s May and a now teenaged daughter are back in England, where May is running her own petroleum company. By the present day, May and daughter Amy, have a complex and fraught relationship with oil, before we have a final glimpse of these women, thirty years in the future.

Zoë Atkinson’s sliding door set design magically and elegantly transports the audience through time and place and she has created costumes that instantly set the mood and era in each scene – with fabulous use of colour. Sensitively and cleverly lit by Matthew Marshall, the production also features evocative composition and sound design by Melanie Robinson, and clever animation from Steve Aiton. Director Adam Mitchell and the design team have co-ordinated to make a production with outstanding design throughout – that is a wonderful canvas for the strong performances.

Central character May is played with strength and power by Hayley McElhinney, in a sensitively nuanced performance that anchors the show beautifully – and allows us to share May’s journey. Her excellence is matched by Abbey Morgan as Amy – a wonderfully complex oppositional performance that shines throughout.

Oil features strong supporting performances, with some actors fulfilling some interesting symbolic doubling. Michael Abercromby is steadfast and solid as May’s husband Joss, whose reappearances throughout provide interesting metaphors. Violet Ayad is strong, tripling the roles of Annie, Ana and Aminah and St John Cowcher also performs effectively in three roles as Thomas, Mr Thomas, and Tom. 

Will Bastow, just finishing at WAAPA, makes an impressive professional debut as William Whitcomb and Nate, with classmate Tinashe Mangwana quickly establishing his professional career, playing Mr Farouk very well. Will O’Mahoney is solid as Samuel and Officer Samuel, and Polly Low brings character and depth in her brief stage time as Ma Singer. Grace Chow is lovely as Fanny, and packs a great theatrical punch as Fan Wang in the final scene.

Interval gossip on opening night would suggest that this production is a little divisive, but for me, the unconventional structure, amazing design, captivating story, and outstanding performances – especially in the central roles - make this a winning production

Kimberley Shaw

Photographer: Daniel J Grant