The evening starts with the writer, Bryony Kimmings entering the stage area from the audience. She makes her way across the stage, avoiding the large square marked out in white, climbs some scaffold, take up a microphone and introduces herself and begins to tell us how the play came about. Thus begins a very different, moving, insightful and harrowing evening that should be experienced by all.
The structure of this production is fluid. It starts with the writer describing the process behind its creation and funding and we see that scene acted out before us by actors who have also emerged from the audience. From here we follow the projects journey. Musical numbers are performed, actual recordings of cancer patients are physicalised and mimed by seated actors and then suddenly we have a real contributor to the research with her own cancer stories standing on the stage. There are no rules in this production. By the end of the show the fourth wall is smashed to pieces and the audience is embraced by the production. Interviewer becomes interviewee, narration turns to scripted acting, twists into a cacophony of sound and movement and then drifts into a dreamlike state before resting with the seated (on the floor) actors listening to the personal cancer story of one of the audience members (pre-arranged).
Along the way we learn of personal journeys and joys, facts and feelings, whether and what the rules are for dealing with cancer as well as some sage advice such as ‘do not pull a ‘cancer face’ when dealing with those affected’, examples are helpfully provided by the performers.
Sadly there were some significant sound mix issues at the start of the show as well as towards the end, leaving important dialogue unheard, but this was only a minor irritation in and extraordinary experience.
Bryony Kimmings’ directs the action like an eccentric ring master. Her quirky character is engaging, her warmth and love drawing the audience into the story. Most impacting is that she does not pull back from this story when she recounts the emotionally damaging impact of her own shortcomings and the choices she has made. The story takes more twists and with tragedy looming in many forms – the audience’s emotional journey is non-stop.  Lara Veitch shares her personal, experiences and we are left in awe of this amazing women and realise that she represents so many many others similarly afflicted. As the production comes to a close the performers throw the story directly into the laps of the audience. Lara Veitch steps up to sing a song specifically written for her, the audience tears begin to break free. A member of the audience has been pre-arranged then joins the performers and gives a personal story and in the final moments the actors, crew and audience are given a moment to vocally acknowledge their own personal, first-hand victims of this horrible disease. The tears are now in free flow.
A Pacifists Guide To The War On Cancer is like nothing you have every seen before and can be a harrowing experience, but see it you must.
Lynden Jones – Theatre Now & On The Town
Photographer credit: Mark Douet
A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer
22nd – 29th Mar
Thu 22 Mar 7:30pm
Fri 23 Mar 7:30pm
Sat 24 Mar 2pm, 7:30pm
Sun 25 Mar 3pm
Tue 27 Mar 7:30pm (followed by Sydney Ideas Q&A)
Wed 28 Mar 6:30pm
Thu 29 Mar 7:30pm
Venue: Seymour Centre; York Theatre
Theatre Company: Complicité Associates and Bryony Kimmings production
Duration:
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