Review: The Story Of the Remnants Of A Dysfunctional Family Are Exposed In DEBRIS

Tuesday 24th November 2015, 9:30pm, Old Fitz Hotel, Woolloomooloo

Dennis Kelly's humorous and dark comedy DEBRIS looks at the tragically bleak fragments of a family unit. Kelly, who also wrote the Book for MATILDA THE MUSICAL, proves again that he has an eye for capturing the lower end of society as he shares the story of a dysfunctional family.

A teenage boy and girl in dirty oversized clothes, on a grimy sofa are focused intently on the flickering light of an unseen television as the audience files in for the fast paced one act play.

Over the hour the audience is treated to an enthusiastic expression of the descriptive and bizarre stories the brother and sister share. As the siblings share their memories and imaginings of their history from versions of their mother's death during the birth of the girl to their father's confronting and carefully planned suicide on the boy's 16th Birthday, we get an insight into the world from their eyes.

There are purely fanciful stories interwoven with gritty commentary on the evil society that lurks beneath the surface, often unseen or ignored by the privileged. The father's alcoholism and the uncle's involvement in human trafficking and the enticing world of ice-cream, champagne and other nice things that are promised by the uncle's sophisticated "friend" are described with an innocent level of understanding, recounting 'facts' rather than fully comprehending the true nature of the events.

Megan McGlinchey and Felix Jozephs are wonderful as the young brother and sister. Director Sean Hawkins has chosen to have the two present the monologues and dialogue direct to the audience ensuring that the audience feel a connection to the characters and eliciting a sympathy and compassion for the children as they share their stories. It also ensures that the gravity of the confronting reality behind the memories is felt.

McGlinchey and Jozephs present innocence in their enthusiasm of the accounts as they bring Kelly's descriptive text to life. In the same way that all children energetically share their stories, they capture the youthful incomplete understanding of what they have seen and have been part of without the judgment that comes with age. Whilst the text excludes complete understanding, McGlinchey and Jozephs do well to ensure that their physicality and voice to not pass 'silent' judgement.

This is a powerful work that lets us see that "there are lives different from ours". From the detritus of life from the squalor the children live in to the remnants of a family, DEBRIS is a morbidly entertaining look at a world that many forget exists.

DEBRIS

Old Fitz Theatre

129 Dowling St Woolloomooloo

9:30pm 24th - 28th November 2015

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