David Jobling
REVIEW | Hollow Ground
March 25th 2000 01:46
The NIDA Company presents
HOLLOW GROUND
by Nick Parsons
Hollow Ground Belvoir St to April 9 is controversial, interesting and Australian - which qualities alone make it well worth seeing. But Warning: don't go for a Nice Night Out. Nick Parsons' is a writer who thinks, deeply, and not just about his bank balance and his reputation. Therefore he's got things to say. In this play he's put together on trial not one, not two, but three of the dread absolutes, the things that have made, and still make, life hell for so many millions of people on this planet.
The Catholic church, the prison system and sexual abuse have all been with us for thousands of years. Stacks has been written about the first two; the issue of child abuse remained hidden from the public until the mid 1980s. The only way we can ever get it all to
stop, is if enough of us actually care. Problem.
In Hollow Ground, a 12 year-old girl, Shelley played by Rebecca Smart is taken in by a fashionably first-named priest, Chris played by Bruce Roberts because her mother dies, her father Jim is in jail and her other rels don't want her. Chris suspects, as we do, that the father is abusing his child. A battle develops between the two men over the child they both claim to love. A new and acute angle on an old, old horror story. Since in reality a Catholic priest would probably never openly have a 12-year-old girl in his hose unchaperoned, Parsons has gone through a few hoops to justify the set-up. In doing so he's brought in several characters with personal baggage that serve only to clutter both stage and narrative.
I think Parsons plays down to his perceived audience. Us wot have survived into the 21st century as theatre-goers, are open to, perhaps even crave, greater challenges than we usually get. If we can't get it in theatre, where can we get it?
Still, the challenge does come in this play. Which, if either, of these two, really has Shelley's interests at heart? We empathize with, and judge, both at different times, and respect their struggle. The end of Act 1 made my toes curl and kept the audience talking loud and fast throughout the interval. But I wonder why someone so young and good-looking as Bruce Roberts was chosen for Chris - when the text says he's middle-aged. Surely he and Jim should be the same age - surely that's the whole point of them both being Fathers of different sorts. And while Veronic Neave was sensitive with her role as Susan, the presence of a semi-demi-legit.,healthy adult hetero outlet for Chris's uncontrollable urges doesn't help the drama, and adds to the loose ends that have to be tied up at close of play.
Excellent performances from Rebecca Smart and Danny Adcock, expecially in their final scene together. Fiona Crombie's set serves the play very well- simple, bare, hard and monkish in itself; the image of the skyward sweep of floorboards is strong and relevant.
The language is rich, jokes good although sometimes terribly misplaced. The writing is rich and intelligent, marred by a few minor TVisms, with a number of `Don't do this to mes' clamoring for the red pen.
Nick Parsons earns praise for being serious, for speaking out, for taking the risk of shocking and alienating his audience to make the point, to wake us up. Not a perfect play, but flaws in the right direction can in their own way be glorious.
SHIRLEY LEWIS
HOLLOW GROUND
by Nick Parsons
Hollow Ground Belvoir St to April 9 is controversial, interesting and Australian - which qualities alone make it well worth seeing. But Warning: don't go for a Nice Night Out. Nick Parsons' is a writer who thinks, deeply, and not just about his bank balance and his reputation. Therefore he's got things to say. In this play he's put together on trial not one, not two, but three of the dread absolutes, the things that have made, and still make, life hell for so many millions of people on this planet.
The Catholic church, the prison system and sexual abuse have all been with us for thousands of years. Stacks has been written about the first two; the issue of child abuse remained hidden from the public until the mid 1980s. The only way we can ever get it all to
stop, is if enough of us actually care. Problem.
In Hollow Ground, a 12 year-old girl, Shelley played by Rebecca Smart is taken in by a fashionably first-named priest, Chris played by Bruce Roberts because her mother dies, her father Jim is in jail and her other rels don't want her. Chris suspects, as we do, that the father is abusing his child. A battle develops between the two men over the child they both claim to love. A new and acute angle on an old, old horror story. Since in reality a Catholic priest would probably never openly have a 12-year-old girl in his hose unchaperoned, Parsons has gone through a few hoops to justify the set-up. In doing so he's brought in several characters with personal baggage that serve only to clutter both stage and narrative.
I think Parsons plays down to his perceived audience. Us wot have survived into the 21st century as theatre-goers, are open to, perhaps even crave, greater challenges than we usually get. If we can't get it in theatre, where can we get it?
Still, the challenge does come in this play. Which, if either, of these two, really has Shelley's interests at heart? We empathize with, and judge, both at different times, and respect their struggle. The end of Act 1 made my toes curl and kept the audience talking loud and fast throughout the interval. But I wonder why someone so young and good-looking as Bruce Roberts was chosen for Chris - when the text says he's middle-aged. Surely he and Jim should be the same age - surely that's the whole point of them both being Fathers of different sorts. And while Veronic Neave was sensitive with her role as Susan, the presence of a semi-demi-legit.,healthy adult hetero outlet for Chris's uncontrollable urges doesn't help the drama, and adds to the loose ends that have to be tied up at close of play.
Excellent performances from Rebecca Smart and Danny Adcock, expecially in their final scene together. Fiona Crombie's set serves the play very well- simple, bare, hard and monkish in itself; the image of the skyward sweep of floorboards is strong and relevant.
The language is rich, jokes good although sometimes terribly misplaced. The writing is rich and intelligent, marred by a few minor TVisms, with a number of `Don't do this to mes' clamoring for the red pen.
Nick Parsons earns praise for being serious, for speaking out, for taking the risk of shocking and alienating his audience to make the point, to wake us up. Not a perfect play, but flaws in the right direction can in their own way be glorious.
SHIRLEY LEWIS
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