The View From Up Here

Exploring of the intersection of the impacts of climate change and family relationships, this play is set in the aftermath of a devastating bushfire which has obliterated a family farm. The family of mother (Emily Tomlins) and two daughters (Brigid Gallacher and Chanella Macri) gather on the site of the house amid the destruction. One of the daughters has brought a friend (John Marc Desengano) as ‘moral support’ and he acts to add fresh insights to the family members’ understanding of each other. The family history includes many unresolved issues which resonate and impact as they, as individuals and a family, try to find a way towards their future.

Production (James Lew and Claudia Mirabello), lighting (Jason Crick) and sound design (Jess Keefe) crucially support the creation of the post-fire world with a theatre full of ‘smoke’ and the sounds of a rushing, overwhelming fire beginning the play. The actors very capably make the most of the script which delicately interweaves the ordinary, the tragic and humour into an affecting whole. Family tensions and the questions of change drive the narrative forward like many similar plays, with secrets uncovered and unexpected truths being revealed.

With the background of global warming adding a worrying dimension to this well-worn narrative, it is not just individual or family survival which is being examined, but the survival of us all.

Ruth Richter

Photographer: Theresa Harrison