In 24 Carrot Productions’ outstanding and profound “Grave Issues,” we are immersed in deep examination of a life’s worth.
The audience enters the Bluestone Church Arts Space in Footscray to find themselves at a funeral for an unnamed woman. Upon sitting, we learn that a “procedure” will be performed, where an empirical determination of a person’s inner workings will be revealed.
The play opened on “Senior” and “Junior” (Kate Ball and Karli Riesen, respectively) performing a sort of autopsy of personal qualities in front of an audience of funerary mourners. The findings were such that “Colleague,” “Friend,” and “Lover” were driven to challenge the method by adding their own experience.
This cleverly-paced performance combines big emotion with perspective and tact. Sharmini Kumar’s darkly humorous writing was like a welcoming lighthouse in a sea of shallow themes.
Karli Riesen was captivating in her portrayal of a high-achieving student up to her neck in the challenges of death, life and worthiness. The co-worker chemistry between Karli and Kate Ball was both hilarious and very tender, and I couldn’t look away. In Kate’s performance, I saw a wise and discerning professional with care equal to her ambition, and writing this now, I suspect this is also a close reflection of her work as an actor.
Ocean Trimboli’s “Colleague” was intense and nuanced. She found amazing balance in her character’s pendulous emotions, the like of which are only too relevant to any discussion of death.
In “Friend,” I saw Bianca Conry deliver an exquisitely flawed human with impeccable comic timing. Even the rhythm of her shoes on the stage’s steps served to build the play’s entrancing reality.
As “Lover,” Sasha Leong was poignant and serene. I found myself simultaneously moved to tears by her performance while also calmed by her voice and dignified stillness.
Front-of-house people were wearing a floral emblem which also adorned notebooks, water bottles, and other props. It had a wonderful unity.
The main performance area contained a coffin, a stage and a small medical implement space at the rear, near a long, black, velvet curtain. The subtle lighting highlighted small moments of transition in the absurdist piece.
The deliberate setup created an atmosphere of sterile efficiency while still being in the grip of a funeral. It was a clever way to contrast humans’ need for emotionless facts while still needing creations such as identity, both fleeting and timeless.
Sharmini Kumar has written a witty, hilarious and profoundly moving examination of how we see and judge ourselves and how our loved ones challenge that. I urge everyone to see this play’s limited run.
Performances of Grave Issues are running until the 9th of September at the Bluestone Church Arts Space.
