La Mama
29 July 2015
La Mama Theatre
to 9 August
lamama.com.au
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| Stars of Track and Field. La Mama |
Stars of track and field is about a family at breaking point.
Teenage son (Hayden Burke) is beginning to see the truth about his family. His sister (Stephania Poutney) is self harming, his mother (Kristina Benton) suffers from years of chronic pain and depression since a car accident ended her running career, and his father (Joe Peruzzi) is still trying to be the man who's in control of his family and can make everything better with ice cream.
The relationships are complex and real and writer Amanda Miha has captured the frustration of family being the only people you can hate because you love them. She looks at how past trauma is passed to children, how children don't really understand why the past can't be left in the past, and how it's possible to think and do the unthinkable for your family.
With Darren Vizer's direction, the performances are strong and honest but need to adjust to the intimacy of La Mama and trust that the audience can see the subtext. And there's a much stronger ending on the stage that happens before the ending; what we imagine is always worse than what we see.
