Embers

The raging fires that blistered Victoria’s North East in 2003 ignited courage and heartbreak. Campion Decent’s Embers is an authentic collage of stories from the community who fought to protect their lives, their homes, and their land.

Gardens Theatre, QUT Gardens Point, Brisbane
Gardens Theatre, Hothouse Theatre, and Sydney Theatre Company
Tuesday, 29 September, 2009
 
The raging fires that blistered Victoria’s North East in 2003 ignited courage and heartbreak. Campion Decent’s Embers is an authentic collage of stories from the community who fought to protect their lives, their homes, and their land.
 
The monster blaze ripped through the bush at a speed no-one expected, claiming one life, 40 homes, 1.3 million hectares of land, and 9000 livestock. The uncontrollable fire that burnt for 59 days left its black mark in the hearts of many. With one life lost, this production focused on the immediate and on-going hardships of a bush fire that may have been overshadowed if there had been a high death toll. Delving into the less publicized struggles people suffer in such a disaster created a far-reaching and more thorough insight into the tragedy.
 
The scrapbook of stories is based on Decent’s many interviews with residents of the region. Their personal struggles have been put together to create a moving illustration of ordinary people dealing with fear and frustration in an extraordinary circumstance. It gave the audience a taste for what it would feel like to be there, but as the characters stated, only going through it would allow someone to truly understand. With a cast of seven, playing tens of characters, they delivered a wide range of stories that kept the audience captivated. However, the lack of climax and a slow warm up hindered a consistent connection. There were times when the show floated peacefully from story to story, but other times when the performances made a powerful impact. Decent deliberately paced the drama with highs and lows to allow the audience to recover from the more stirring moments, but instead this wave drew away from the intensity. A stronger build up to the heart-wrenching stories would have been more effective, as the scattered technique didn’t evoke as much emotion as potentially could have been. In saying that, the less emotional atmosphere kept the overall production down to earth, allowing the audience to be educated as well as entertained.
 
The natural performances provided the show with its documentary feel. The relaxed exchange of story-telling between characters was a platform for debate over the handling of the fire by the Country Fire Authority and the Department of Sustainability and Environment. The casual and sometimes heated conversations were periodically interrupted when the individual characters spoke to the audience about their personal journeys. Maggie Blinco as a woman who protected her many rescue animals and pets by carrying them into a mine shaft was particularly spirited, as too was Tracy Mann as a cattle owner who battled the loss of her animals and her insurance company’s insensitivity. Mann’s gut-wrenching account of the blaze around her home that forced her to take charge took the audience to centre of the scene.
 
Set design by Gordon Bur combined with lighting by Martin Kinnane was a defining element of this production. Ember-like lighting on the stage floor-boards and a charred forest background created a stark and eerie atmosphere. Composer Steve Francis’ sound design linked with the lighting heightened the ‘goosebump’ effect. Never before have I seen these three elements work together so well. The result was subtle, almost unnoticeable, which made the experience all the more real.
 
Embers is an emotive and enlightening story about the bush fires as told from the mouths of those that experienced the horror of the disaster.
 
For booking information and tour dates visit http://www.hothousetheatre.com.au/touring/20097862595.htm
 
Currently touring Australia