Review: A Confronting And Heartbreaking Tale Of A Family Torn Apart Unfolds In KEEP CALLING

Tuesday 13th September 2016, 9:30pm, PACT Emerging Artist Hub Erskineville

Chelsea Ingram's KEEP CALLING is a gripping look at the lasting effects of a dark family secret. This honest and raw emotional roller coaster, directed by Herman Pretorius, forces the audiences to think of the consequences of tearing families apart, no matter how justified the reasons may seem at the time.

The flexible black box space of PACT emerging Artist Hub is transformed into the living room of a shabby small apartment. Clothes spill out of a suitcase, abandoned in the middle of the floor. Microwave pizza boxes litter the kitchen table and room whilst a young woman sleeps on blankets on the floor next to a box of photographs and papers.

It becomes clear that the music playing as the woman wakes up is actually playing in her head as she's pulled from her sleep and alcohol infused stupor by a phone call. The response to the call indicates that Stacey (Chelsea Ingram) has been tormented by the mysterious heavy breathing crank calls for a while. It's when her estranged brother Sam (Luke Edward Smith) pays a visit that the pieces start to fit and we discover the apartment belongs to their late father, for who she was his pride a joy, whilst the son was the disappointment of the family.

Ingram and Edward Smith work wonderfully together, bouncing between fiery anger and resentment and innocent, damaged confusion as they discuss and argue over her not attending their father's funeral. As the younger sister who was separated from her brother, sent to live with their Aunt when she was 10 years old, Ingram displays Stacey's unresolved hurt and abandonment issues with a unreserved honesty as she has screaming matches and tender moments with her brother. Edward Smith expresses Sam's regret that he couldn't be there for his sister who he obviously loves whilst teetering between still believing she would be better off without him and returning to their aunt. The two exhibit the regret and shame of their past, each trying to take the blame with the guilt instilled by their recently deceased father and aunt with emotion and physical abuse and reinforced by their mother abandoning the family.

This a wonderfully raw and real drama covering some very confronting and uneasy topics, presented by two great actors that give the characters an honesty and humanity. They have an expressive and dramatic physicality whilst ensuring the portrayal refrains from becoming a caricature or over exaggeration. The pair connect well with each other and draw the audience in to engage them so that the devastating effect of the past on the characters is heartwrenching.

KEEP CALLING is a wonderful example of the amazing quality of small Australian theatre and whilst encompassing some incredibly weighty material, is a must see for anyone that appreciates a good, honest, heartfelt drama.

KEEP CALLING

Sydney Fringe Festival

PACT Emerging Artist Hub, Erskineville

13-17 September 2016, 9:30pm

Photos: Isabelle Munhos

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