TIM WINTON'S 'RISING WATER'

For my birthday in July my significant other bought us tickets to Tim Winton's Rising Water. It was the first time we had been to the recently completed Albany Entertainment Centre and I have to admit, I liked it. It confirms that Albany might have finally earnt it's badge as a city. The theatre was intimate, maybe a bit too claustrophobic which I put down to budgetry restrictions, but seemed to work well. I didn't even mind the bright purple seating.

This is the promotional blurb:

Only loosely tethered to shore but never ready to set sail, Col, Baxter and Jackie have made a jumble of boats in a Fremantle marina their barely floating homes.



It’s Australia Day, and as the city noisily celebrates around them, they just want to hole up and be left in peace. When Dee, a young English backpacker, stumbles upon them with far too much anger and alcohol in her belly, she well and truly rocks their boats, and the past they want to escape from gets dragged up like jetsam from the sea.

I listened with some trepidation to the early part of the play. Actors John Howard (Baxter) and Geoff Kelso (Col) had some dense monologues to deliver. Even the dialogue was heavy going at times. Winton seems to have packed a lot in conceptually, philosophically - I think that is what I found exhausting. Geoff Kelso gave a seasoned 'old school' theatrical performance, he was impressive. And Alison Whyte was also very good. Beligerant backpacker Claire (Dee) Lovering put in 110% and sometimes that much effort overstated the character for me. I put that down to the overzealousness of youth, it was a difficult part having to maintain a cockney accent and I reckon with some more experience she will be wonderful.

Apart from local bands I haven't seen a live performance in many years. I had forgotten how demanding it could be. So much more work for the audience to do than passively watching the TV or a DVD. There is something raw and more real about it that I like. We were second row back so we were very close to the actors. Some of the audience were offended by the 'bad' language, I think it was the 'c' word that got to them. The language didn't bother me but I was grateful for the lengthy intermission that divided the two act play.

Given the conversations about climate change that predominate the title of Tim Winton's first play taps into the collective zeitgeist but ultimately still focuses on his predominant theme - the emotional and psychological struggles of individuals trying to make sense of their dysfunctional lives. Probably in reality a self-portrait of the author.

Having lived on a yacht in similar marinas with similar social reject neighbours for 3 years the play was very nostalgic for me. Winton was spot on. I picked up on the 'dirty old man' syndrome that I think one of my friends commented on just recently, which I think is a throwback to Winton's very Christian upbringing and his own personal moral struggles. But hey, I give him absolute credit for getting it out there.

I wonder what Winton himself thought of the play and character interpretation by the actors. I could have asked him because he was there that night but I am not the type to be a 'groupie'.