Skylab | State Theatre Centre | Until 2 Sept | ★ ★ ★
Black Swan State Theatre Company and Yirra Yaakin have teamed up to bring a play by Melodie Reynolds-Diarra to the stage.
It’s 1979 and down in the remote Western Australian town of Esperance indigenous couple Jem and Nev are struggling to make ends meet. They worry about bills and getting enough food on the table, their three kids however live a carefree life dreaming, playing and watching television.
Like many kids in the late ’70s and early ’80s they’re quite obsessed with the nightly television program Monkey Magic. The Japanese television program, based on a the 16th century Chinese tale Into the West, was compulsory viewing for eight year-olds.
Uncle Harvey who lives down the back of the couple’s property has worries of his own. He worries about messages coming through radio waves and the news that NASA’s Skylab space station is out to coming crashing down to Earth puts him on edge.
As someone who was six years old in 1979, I have clear memories of Skylab crashing down – we were getting ready to move to Western Australia and the idea of a place where space station’s came smashing to the ground was quite appealing. Nightly viewing of Monkey Magic did not occur in our household – the show was banned, so afraid were my parents that my brothers and I would beat each other to a pulp with the broom handle.
The first half of the play sets up the characters and their situation. It’s funny and engaging with fine performances from the wonderful Gary Cooper as Uncle Harvey, Adam Little as Nev and Laila Bano Rind as Jem. Two casts of younger actors take on the roles of the three children on alternate nights.
During the interval I found myself wondering if this play had anything to say – while it was all very pleasant, not a lot was happening. The first act ends with Skylab burning up over the skies of Western Australia.
The second half is where it all gets interesting. After Skylab comes crashing down the family start to discover they have entered another state of existence, one where dreams do come true, and the world is what you make it.
This modern take on a ‘dreamtime’ is an intriguing concept, and it brings some great comedic moments to the story. Too quickly though it descends into something all-together quite bizarre and very whimsical, and I was once again left wondering what it was all about. The combination of storytelling elements make it too ridiculous to be taken seriously, but too earnest to be enjoyed as pure comedy.
While the script is long and could easily be pared back, what shined through here were some great and engaging performances from Cooper, Little and Bano Rind.
After its Perth season the production is travelling to Geraldton and Karratha.
Graeme Watson
