Theatre: The Children

The Children is a prescient and cautionary tale about the dangers of nuclear power and its potentially grim legacy for everyday people.

This is hot and timely stuff. The Black Swan State Theatre Company production comes just as the federal Opposition has begun spruiking nuclear power as the nostrum for our energy woes.

Many beg to differ, arguing there are perfectly good, safe, renewable energy options.

But nuclear power is already glowing in The Children, and, in the ghastly tradition of Fukushima, the local seaside power station has melted down due to earthquake and tsunami action.

British playwright Lucy Kirkwood drills down and tackles the larger atomic dilemma, and the perils of humans meddling with the fundamentals of nature.

We find ourselves in a modest coastal cottage, a safe distance from the station’s seven-kilometre exclusion zone, but by no means free of radiation. A Geiger counter is a must-have household accoutrement.

The owners are Robin (Humphrey Bower) and Hazel (Nicola Bartlett), retired nuclear scientists from the plant, now living a simple, off grid, totally self-sufficient existence, a la the ‘70s British sitcom The Good Life.

But life isn’t that good. They have been at the cottage ever since the disaster. She has taken to clean living and yoga; he has a penchant for homemade fruit wine and dabbling in farm work,  somewhat too close to the remains of the reactor.

Due to the power plant disaster, their own power is dodgy, evidenced by flickering and fading lights in their humble abode.

Then Rose (Caroline Brazier) a friend and scientist colleague from the early power plant days, arrives at the door. She has a nosebleed.

It has been 40 years between drinks. Rose has been living and working in Massachusetts, USA, in intervening years.

Initially things seem amicable enough, albeit a tiny bit tense; but Rose has also come bearing baggage, and reminders that Robin and Hazel would sooner forget.

We learn of love liaisons and trouble with offspring, but they are nothing compared to the startling proposal Rose has for the three of them.

The entire one act play takes place in the cottage’s open plan kitchen and living room and is carried effectively by witty, sometimes cynical dialogue.

While the subject is sometimes serious and dispiriting, there were regular chuckles from the audience, clearly picking up on the dark irony of the saga.

Some scenes seemed a little superfluous and silly, such as a recollected and reprised synchronised line dance by the trio. A solemn dual yoga session between Hazel and Rose also seemed a little peculiar. But who knows what bored nuclear scientists do to occupy their time.

This aside, Director Mel Cantwell has done a good job creating a tense and thought-provoking stage drama with a salient message.

The play is ultimately a drama about social responsibility and misguided human decisions leading to dire consequences for nature and future generations – in other words, the children.

We spotted several local politicians in the audience at opening night. Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition, The Hon. Peter Dutton MP, Member for Dickson, will also pop over to Perth for a squiz.

The Children runs at the State Theatre Centre until Sunday, September 15/

For more information and bookings go to: www.blackswantheatre.com.au

CAST Nicola Bartlett, Humphrey Bower, Caroline Brazier

WRITER Lucy Kirkwood DIRECTOR Mel Cantwell  SET & COSTUME DESIGNER Bruce McKinven LIGHTING DESIGNER Matthew Marshall COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER Rachael Dease STAGE MANAGER Izzy Taylor ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Kira Feeney

Photographs: Philip Gostelow