Review: DAFFODILS [INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS] Is A Beautifully Presented Story Of Love, Life And Family Secrets

Thursday 12th May, 7:30pm, Lennox Theatre, Parramatta

New Zealand's Rochelle Bright's tribute to her parents plays out in the poignant cabaret DAFFODILS [INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS]. A wonderful collection of pop rock music and visuals are combined with Bright's family story to take the audience on an emotion filled journey that all started with a bed of flowers.

The black box space of the Lennox Theatre is perfect for the minimalist set of three piece band flanked by hall carpets leading to two microphone stands, all in front of a big screen backdrop. The band consists of drums, electric guitar and two keyboards, set up with an array of cables, fold back speakers and microphones to allow the instrumentalists to provide additional vocals and occasionally interact with the two actors. There is a casualness of a "pub gig" about the setup and a constraint imposed by the Persian runners.

Keyboardist Stephanie Brown takes on the role of Rochelle, narrating the introduction and taking the audience back to where "it all started with a daffodil" in country New Zealand in 1964. As the screen, which up till now has been displaying the title of the show, changes to a projection of trees outside a car window, a young man, in black suit and bare feet, who we later learn is Rochelle's father Eric (Todd Emerson), comes out in a blaze of 1960's rock and roll before he narrates his story of when he first met Rochelle's mother, Rose (Colleen Davis), as she was talking to the daffodils by the lake, late at night.

The story, which Bright has pieced together from private letters, real interviews with her family, and family myths unearthed at "garage piss ups", is presented direct to the audience, ensuring that the connection to the audience is made even whilst Eric and Rose are having conversations. The audience are drawn in to want to feel hope and sympathy for the couple as the bittersweet memories are recounted. Emerson captures the young Eric that is an initially carefree and sometimes careless 18 year old young man that loves rock and roll and still doesn't quite get the seriousness of the relationship that is blossoming. Davis presents the innocence and naivety of the 16 year old country girl, away from home to study at the Technical College in town, falling in love for the first time. Both capture the changes in emotion, the development of the love, longing, despair, disappointment, confusion, disgust and betrayal beautifully, ensuring that the pair are presented with honesty and not turned into caricatures or overplayed. Both have a delightful physicality. Emerson, who looks like a modern day 'hipster', fits with Eric's image of a relatively good boy in the 1960's and has somewhat of an endearing awkwardness about him. Davis is dressed in a red lace tea length belted full skirt dress, typical of the mid 1960's and also gives Rose an air of shyness and innocence. Both, in their dialogue and their physicality, capture their characters personalities well, reacting to what the other is recounting and utilising the lines of carpet to represent interactions between the two, even though they are standing at opposite sides of the stage

The story is rounded out by the music which draws on arrangements of works from a variety of New Zealand bands and new compositions. Band members Stephanie Brown, Fen Ikner, who make up the musical project LIPS and guitarist Abraham Kunin have created the remixes and new works. Emotions and events play out in song between the accounts and interactions. Emerson has a clean, powerful pop rock style and Davis has a haunting, emotive sound. Beneath the narration and dialogue, the band provides a subtle but unique soundscape, drawing out unique sounds from their instruments such as Abraham Kunin crouching down to the fold back speaker to evoke a different sound out of the electric guitar.

Garth Badger's photography and film backdrop creates an added dimension of filling in parts of the storyline and reinforcing the events that take place. Whilst some images are created specifically for the story, overhead shots of re-enactments taking place in a timber floored room to represent a day at the beach and other events; he has also used archive footage and images. Presented in monochrome, there is a subtlety to the images so they don't overshadow the performers but simply add another dimension to Eric and Rose's story.

DAFFODILS [INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS] is a moving reminder to share our secrets with our loved ones to save being misunderstood. Whilst Bright has used a number of New Zealand places and terms in the story, most can be worked out to understand distances between towns mentioned and the little differences between Australian and New Zealand terminology. This is a beautiful story filled with great music that will appeal to a wide range of audiences, from the young, to the young at heart, those that have been in love, and may still be waiting for it.

DAFFODILS [IMSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS]

Lennox Theatre, Riverside Theatre

12 -14 May

BULLET HEART CLUB

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