Director: Sophie Drake
Writer: Angus Cerini
Sometimes murder is your only option when the outback heat gets too much.
The Bleeding Tree by multi-award-winning Australian playwright Angus Cerini transports us to the Australian outback for a wry and macabre descent into an exploration of morality with deathly consequences. Directed by Sophie Drake, this UK premiere production takes to the stage of Southwark Playhouse Borough to captivate its audience for 60 minutes.
On one dusty night in an undisclosed rural town in the middle of nowhere, Australia, a Mum, played by Mariah Gale, and her two young daughters Ida (Elizabeth Dulau) and Ada (Alexandra Jensen,) make the ultimate decision when they kill the husband and father of their broken family. After years of abuse, this almost inevitable act takes centre stage across the play’s runtime. The audience is given a snapshot into the lives of these women at the point of crisis, expanding upon their abuse and how they deal with it in the harsh conditions of outback Australia together as women.
Designed by Jasmine Swan, the set is comprised of crunchy red sand to place us in the middle of the Australian desert, with an expressionist rendering of the gangly trees wrapping up the back of the space. Asaf Zohar’s sound design, replete with chirping bugs and the hum of the outback, is executed superbly to render the world that the characters are ensconced within.
Cerini’s text is laconic and prosaic. Evoking the lethargic and melodic temperament of classic Australian poetry, with a heavy utilisation of outback lingo, it elevates this play from a simple story of retribution and empowerment to a beautiful, elegant spectacle of wordplay.
Gale, Dulau and Jensen are all superb in the delivery of their characters, with an uncanny ability to tightly switch between true-blue, Aussie blokes and the rough-and-ready women. The intense atmosphere that they create with their well-executed discourse is amazingly engaging to watch
Angus Cerini’s The Bleeding Tree is a feverish snapshot of the aftermath of three women when they take their lives into their own hands, exquisitely painted on the stage like a poem in motion.
Runs until 22 June 2024
