Thursday 31 October 2024
Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday)
The Kingdom of Eucalypts is a powerful play that explores many controversial themes while telling the story of one of Australia’s best known writers, Miles Franklin. Playwright Alice Spigelman asks us to grapple with race, feminism, political ideology, the role of family, and in many ways the dynamics of self and selfishness – or, the human condition. Many questions are raised and we are often torn and forced to choose sides but the answers all lie with each of us individually. And herein lies the power of the production of director Moira Blumenthal and dramaturg Timothy Daly.
Spigelman adopts the unusual dramatic device of having both the young Franklin in her early 20’s having just published My Brilliant Career (Sarah Greenwood) and her older self in her 50’s trying to re-establish her career (Beth Daly) appearing on stage together and talking to each other about what was, what could have been and the choices she is making now. While this device allows the single character of Miles to question her own motives and actions, it sometimes undermined our understanding of who she was and our ability to empathise with her. In particular Daly struggled in a few scenes with the nuances of who she was supposed to be at that particular moment, but her experience and talent pulled us through nonetheless.
The elder Miles had just returned home to care for her recently widowed mother played convincingly by Alice Livingstone. While she was a demanding parent, we discover in the end it was all about love and her wish for her daughter’s well-being. Of all the characters in the play it is hers that rings true throughout. By comparison, Miles’ decision not to marry and produce a family seems self-centred given she had the undying love of a so-called good man (James Coetzee) who she firmly rejected not once but twice. To a modern audience, and her mother, this raised the question of Miles’ sexuality although this is never canvassed in the script, and her protestation that she is too busy championing the rights of women and women writers in particular, it felt at times like an excuse. In the end though does it matter whether she was a staunch feminist or a lesbian or both? Probably not, her actions are what are important.
Lloyd-Alison Young gave a perfectly oily vigorous performance of her publisher Inky Stephenson whose political affiliations, whilst earnest, followed the shifting trends of the 1930’s, dragging Miles along in his turbulence. Through his character we are asked to re-examine fascism, the strong-man style of populist politics, anti-Semitism (which he felt was justified, as did Miles in an earlier period of her life), and racism, all hot-button topics in our present world. Shocking for some to learn he was incarcerated for 3 years for his political affiliations, affiliations that united them before but divided them now, ultimately brought him and their friendship undone, and Miles rejects him not so much for his ideology, but more that he was too distracted to publish her only other literary success All That Swagger. Again, is she just a self-centred character whose own career is more important than the struggles and suffering in the world?
In the end the subtitle of the play (The Enigma of Miles Franklin) sums up the questions we are left to answer for ourselves, and maybe never can. In some ways it is a play that deserves a second viewing – and it will only get better with more live performances under the players’ belts – in order to really grasp the gravity of what’s being presented.
Season runs at the Bondi Pavilion 30 October – 17 November 2024.
You can listen to a recent interview with Beth Daly and Lloyd-Alison Young below: