Immersive experience
Defiance tells the stories of some of the
detainees of the Quarantine Station at Manly, which operated from
1828 until 1984. During that period people were quarantined during
the outbreak of worldwide epidemics of diseases including Small
Pox, Bubonic Plague and Spanish Influenza. Diseases which killed
hundreds of millions of people. Defiance is the story
of people who defied the odds of their incarceration and survived,
of others who died and ordinary people who volunteered to tend
the sick. There are heroes, cowards, innocent victims and at least
one downright blaggard. The human spirit shines throughout in
the battle against mankind’s oldest foes – disease.
Part
of the uniqueness of this production is that it is playing in
the very place where its characters had these experiences. Some
of them are still buried on site in the graveyard. Act One takes
place in the old laundry building. All the machinery you’d
expect to find in a laundry is still there, it just doesn’t
work any more. Like all buildings at Q Station, is State Heritage
listed, which is one step below World Heritage. The machinery
cannot be brought back to life, except with sound effects.
Act One concentrates on the story of the Wilson
family, forcibly removed to quarantine from their Rocks home in
1881 during the Small Pox epidemic. It came out at the Royal Commission
into the treatment of detainees during that time that the entire
family – John and Sarah Wilson and their six children –
were wrongly detained. As a result their youngest child died of
Small Pox. John Wilson was quarantined on the hospital hulk, the
Faraway, in the bay off Q Station. As the only person on board
it became his responsibility to tend to the sick, sow the dead
into their shrouds and place them in coffins for transport to
shore. More than once John Wilson jumped ship in order to see
his sick child, but was met with armed resistance, was caught
and returned to the Faraway.
Act Two takes place in the rebuilt hospital building.
The original hospital burnt down nearly five years ago, the victim
of arson. The new building is built in its image. Act Two is a
combination of stories about the Plague, Spanish Influenza and
a glimpse into a possible future where Avian Flu runs rampant.
Schwerdt plays professional rat catcher Ned Cratchely, the self-proclaimed
Pied Piper of The Rocks during the 1901 outbreak of plague. Schwerdt
injects Cratchely with a wry sense of humour. He becomes the narrative
thread between the Plague and Spanish Influenza stories.
It’s 1918 and World War I has come to its
bloody end. Nurse Kelly tends to her patients, 11 year old Clarissa
and Lieutenant Gilbert. Gilbert is one of 2500 returned soldiers
who went straight into quarantine for Spanish Influenza. Confined
for nearly three months, Clarissa has made an imaginary friend
of Cleopatra the eagle which she sketches lovingly. As it becomes
certain Nurse Kelly won’t recover, Lieutenant Gilbert goes
in search of a priest to give her last rites. He returns with
a Bishop, but is refused entry by the guards. Nurse Kelly is buried
in the graveyard on-site.
The actors play multiple roles and each character
seems to fit them like a glove, they move so seamlessly from role
to role. A number of accents are employed, all to great effect.
Suzy is a strong presence as Sarah Wilson and Damien shines as
John Wilson. Rebekah is entirely believable as the young Clarissa.
She also injects some playful humour into the part of the Royal
Commissioner in Act One. Schwerdt is effortlessly charming and
funny as rat catcher Ned Cratchely.
But
there are also some other stars of this production, namely the
special effects and sound effects of Allan Hirons and Jeremy Silver,
which give so much depth to the whole experience. The ring-a-ring-a-rosy
visual which starts out as a flower and unfurls into a circle
of skipping children is particularly powerful, as is the silhouette
of Cleopatra the eagle who swoops around the walls of the hospital
in Act Two. Peter Ashman’s set design using the heritage
spaces is truly innovative. In particular, the prow of the Faraway
in the laundry is very evocative. Throughout it all is the powerful
voice of Anthony Phelan, whose narrative weaves the stories together.
The ambience at Q Station is undeniable, from the
atmospheric walk between the two venues during intermission, to
the spectacular views of the city skyline at night from the hospital
grounds. But Defiance is more than a tourist attraction. It is
an opportunity to bear witness to these incredible people’s
stories and delve into a little known slice of Sydney’s
history.
Authenticity is key in this production. The beds
in the hospital scene are exact replicas of those used in the
1800’s. The seats are upholstered in clothing, and the laundry
sound effects are exact reproductions of how the machinery used
to sound. Authenticity is at the core of Q Station, which aims
to provide a way to experience history in the space where it occurred.
Q Station’s General Manager, Simon McCarthur, calls it immersion
theatre. As he puts it “We wanted an authentic experience
based on real stories about real people, caught in the wrong place
at the wrong time.” McCarthur’s philosophy of “making
history relevant to the present, for people to contemplate the
future” is what Defiance and Q Station in its present
incarnation are all about.
Defiance certainly achieves all this and
much, much more.
Philippa Wherrett
