BEETLE GRADUATION - RADIO ADELAIDE REVIEW

By Myk Mykyta

We all know that life is a struggle and the hardest is in the leaving of life.  On a square rink in the Space Theatre we can watch a struggle of life and death of a mother and her daughter.  I am talking about Susan Rogers’ play Beetle Graduation, directed by Chris Drummond for Brink Productions in association with Adelaide Festival Centre’s inSPACE program.  The setting, designed by Wendy Todd, works well to confine audience concentration on the minutiae of two lives.

In this cocooned world – curiously without men; directed by a man – two women fight for existence: Mother for her life, dying of cancer; and her daughter, whom she calls Beetle, for her personality.  The play is truly epic theatre; each scene is important.  Though not sequential, the scenes build, like a mosaic, to eventually create a fascinating picture of the problems of living with another person that you love.  I am told, on good authority, that those scenes really reflected the chaotic nature of mother-daughter relationship; especially at a time of stress.

Very early in, Beetle Graduation produced an image in my mind that helped me understand and enjoy the play.  I saw Beetle and Mother as two people who were working on two complex jig-saw puzzles side-by-side.  Only the pieces for both of the different puzzles were mixed together in the same box.  Thus I was able to share their frustration at trying to find the right piece, the puzzlement at finding a piece that seemed to fit but was clearly wrong and the joy and triumph when a correct piece was found.

The actors, Carmel Johnson as Mother and Michaela Cantwell as Beetle, are clearly still exploring the nuances of Beetle Graduation and they are taking the audience with them.  Each actor brings her own particular strength to the piece with joy and generosity.  Michaela Cantwell gives us an energetic physicality especially in the memories of Beetle’s youth.  Carmel Johnson brings a solid grounding to Mother’s self-centred and self-obsessed life.  Yet both actors take great joy to use each other’s strengths to reflect and expand on their characters.  Susan Rogers, the writer, uses echoes of memory to make us all question our ownership of the experiences that make up our lives.

There are only two props on the carpeted square arena: a chair and a large rectangular red shawl.  These easily become many things in various locations because the actors’ actions and belief make them so; and the delicately intricate framework of the two lives draws us in.  Chris Drummond’s direction is clear; it follows the playwright’s intent yet allows the actors freedom to explore the text and create their own images within that.  Geoff Cobham’s lighting and DJ TR!P’s soundscape ensure that our attention is always focused and working.

Many episodes of the lives on stage resonated with me to worm themselves into my mind.  I could feel Beetle’s impotent anger and frustration when Mother keeps calling her Beetle; my understanding of Mother’s reaction when her doctor told her that nothing further could be done to prevent her death was so strong that it almost hurt; Beetle’s memory of the moment of Mother’s death, and the moments of stillness and love between Mother and Beetle are also vivid.

Yes, Edward Albee was right when he said that a play’s resonances are more important than its impact and Beetle Graduation is a play of resonances that are carried on to the end.  Even after her death Mother hasn’t left Beetle or us.  Although Mother’s death does not bring the release, or graduation, for Beetle that Mother expected.  At the end we sit there in momentary silence stunned by the play and its performance.  Beetle Graduation has been an unforgettable hour of theatre and I urge you all not to miss it.