His Ghostly Heart
So close and personal it can almost be touched, His Ghostly Heart is engaging and deeply moving theatre.
There is always so much to a performance that can’t be expressed in a review, but it is particularly the case with a show like this which plays and teases in subtle yet poignant ways. It is like a piece of paper, subjected to simple folds that then magically becomes something with body, form and dimensions.
Most of the intimate half hour is performed in complete darkness. The audience is in the action, in the emotion, and in the drama. We see it unfold before us in the dark in a way that are delightfully recognisable its fun and detail, but also for its decay and distaste.
While the production plays with the physical concept of darkness, the script explores the emotional struggle of darkness within and what is illuminated when we turn on the light. It is a story about the dynamics of change, of the disparity between reality and desires. It is about the passing of time and the corresponding mystery of the timelessness of stories.
It is a simple, yet genuinely clever and insightful show that is packed with meaning, emotion and drama. It is a tightly woven story about the shit we know if we look deeply.
A South Australian production of the play written by Ben Schiffer, one of the writers of the UK television prodcution Skins, it is showing three times a night at Holden Street Theatre throughout the Fringe. Great theatre packed into thirty minutes – there is no excuse to miss this.
By Libby King.
