The world is coming to an end. Life feels inconceivably unfair and beyond your control. So how would you choose to cope?
Would you adopt ‘a survival of the fittest’ mentality? Would you suffer in silence? Or would you fall into despair in a constant state of lack?
In a bid to connect Australian audiences with human compassion and understanding, playwright Jamila Main excites us with her new production, ‘How To Eat Rabbit’, as part of La Mama’s Hope Punk Climate Festival.
In this independent dark comedy, we come upon a dystopian world suffering from climate change, where two friends, Alex and Cam, decide to bunk together in a burrow. There, they try to persist beneath a world that is literally caving in on them, inch by inch, and metre by metre.
Promising to keep one another safe and sane, they tackle their situation head-on – creating innovative ways to keep to a sound routine. The counting and recounting of tins of beans, stacking them in curious little piles all over the stage: like magical sandcastles. Handpainting pleasurable scenes on the walls of the cave. Daily training activities on repeat to keep boredom at bay. Frequent food and supply runs to keep their health intact.
As time rolls on, the atmosphere intensifies, for we are only human after all. A power struggle between the pair. Alex, wonderfully played by Nory Gretz, the more dominant of the pair, takes comfort in controlling the nest, while Cam, seamlessly portrayed by Jamila Main herself, is struggling to physically keep up, desperately hiding a secret about her health – internally collapsing to keep Alex comfortable.
In truth, this show is extremely spontaneous, confronting and radically shocking; depicting desperate, irrational behaviour at the hands of quiet desperation. Keeping us riveted from the get-go – even spotlighting the script onto the back wall of the stage – to not only guide the audience, but to digest and immerse us into the lived experience of these two characters.
But what is most impressive about this show? Is its revolutionary purpose beyond climate change. For Jamila Main is truly on a crusade – to make theatre a platform for greater understanding. For Main, theatre is more than a stage: it is the foundation of community. Where one can share personal struggles via inventive storytelling.
That we can still persevere despite the challenges one faces in life. That we can turn pain into power: with a courageous war cry, every single day.
To book tickets to How To Eat Rabbit, please visit https://www.lamama.com.au/whats-on/la-mama-hope-punk-climate-festival/how-to-eat-rabbit.
Photographer: Darren Gill
