By Mikayla van Loon
Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre Company is getting ready to present its first play of the year with ‘Family Values’ coming to the stage on 9 February.
The 2019 play by David Williamson sees the family dynamics of the retiring federal court judge and his wife play out as his three adult children come to celebrate his birthday.
Tensions bubble when the judge’s eldest daughter brings home an escaped refugee, his son becomes a Hillsong member and the youngest daughter is a border force operator who is engaged to be married to another female.
“It’s a comedy and it has lots of laughs but it sets us all up for an opportunity to have a bit of a think about some complex issues that are relevant and contemporary to where we are at the moment here in Australia,” director Ian Frost said.
Bringing together worldwide issues that are reflective of many family situations or relationships, Frost said by putting it in the “context of one family” it “makes global matters personal and relevant.”
“It makes it more easily accessible to us, when we see specific people within one family grappling with some of these issues, and each holding their own different positions, some holding on to those positions firmly and some prepared to shift and change,” he said.
With a “razor sharp” script, Frost said the humour helps break down the barriers around some challenging conversations.
As the first show Frost has directed, he said it has been incredibly rewarding to work with the cast and crew who have each brought their own personalities, concepts and unique ideas.
“I’ve been blessed with a cast who is absolutely fantastic, collectively and individually, they’ve got a lot of theatre experience between them.
“So it’s been a joy to give them structure but are able to invite their contributions as well. It’s really been a very collaborative process.”
One of those cast members is Lisa Upson, who plays the wife of the federal court judge, a role she said has thrown her back into the modern day after performing in mostly period pieces.
“I don’t think I’ve done a modern contemporary play in quite a long time and this is the first time I’ve used an Australian accent for a long time,” she said.
“Every other play I’ve done, I’ve had to have a Yorkshire accent or American accent or cockney accent, I’ve had a lot of different accents.”
Playing a fairly left-wing character who is supportive of protecting Saba, the refugee, Upson said she enjoyed exploring the bravery and risk-taking side of her character.
Being able to hear from an asylum seeker first hand in the lead up the play, Upson said “it was eye opening to hear her story and to realise the things her family can’t do because they don’t have citizenship”.
“I really appreciated the ability to bring this to a stage because it is still current, it is still happening in our country and it’s something that people need to be made aware of and theatre does that,” she said.
“It treads a very fine line between making a judgement and asking the question and I think that’s a tricky thing to do.
“But I hope it does that, that it asks questions, that it makes people want to know more about the situation with asylum seekers and how we look after them and how we treat them and what conditions they are forced to live under and how humane we are as human beings.”
Family Values begins on Thursday 9 February and runs until Saturday 25 February. To Book tickets go to latc2020.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/sales or call 9735 1777.
“While [people are] watching the show, I’m sure they’ll enjoy the comedy, the laughter and the sheer spectacle of it,” Frost said.
“But on the way home one of my hopes is there will be some rich and nuanced discussion about the idea that there are multiple different drivers in complex situations and there’s not always simple answers from those.”
