Bright World

Tonight I went with a friend to see Bright World written by and starring Elise Hearst and Andrea James at Theatre Works in St. Kilda.

“1938 Europe Burns. Young Jewish couple Hans and Alice Herskovics mount a dangerous escape from Nazi-Occupied Vienna. Half a world away, after a lifetime advocating for the rights of his own people, Yorta Yorta leader William Cooper leads a deputation to the front door of Melbourne’s German Consulate.  His message – The persecution of the Jewish people must stop.   Nearly eighty years later, two playwrights come together on page and stage to explore the legacy of their ancestors in a unique cross-cultural collaboration. Who can pull off the best 80’s flashback? Whose dog is the smartest? Whose oppression largest? What makes a hero? From Austria to Australia, from Deb Ball in Benalla to a Brighton Bat Mitzvah, bright World is genre bending trip into the heart of our history making”

I had yet to see any local theatre until tonight during my time within Australia. Going to see theatre is one of my favourite things to back home. I’ve sat through many student productions, community theatre, touring theatre on and on. I’ve seen the shockingly good to absolutely terrible.

Bright World was somewhere in the middle. The production was good, the performances fine, Dialogue well written, but overall the structure didn’t work for me.

The main two stories in the play focus are the separate stories of Hans and Alice leaving Vienna and William Cooper’s journey as well as his decision to show support for the Jewish people. These two stories are sewn together through the third story that highlights two female playwrights deciding to work together to tell the story of the relationship between Aboriginals and Jews. This play is a great example of non-linear storytelling. Though the transitions between the stories were where I felt this play failed…. Anytime I began to really feel for the characters in the main two dramatic arcs it would cut away to the two playwrights for mostly comedic effect. I felt these seemingly sporadic transitions really hurt the overall message this play was trying to get across.

Overall though I did really enjoy it. I am not too familiar with Australian/Aboriginal history (other than what I learned through a few museum trips when I first moved here)  and the discourse that goes along with it but this certainly sparked my interest.