Melbourne Theatre Company’s Before I Forget starts in a surprisingly clever way, thanks to the brilliant mind of writer, director, and Yagera/Butchulla theatre maker, Kamarra Bell-Wykes. In the Fairfax Studio, a semi-circular platform stage sits before the audience. Below its dimmed veil of light, designed by Katie Sfetkidis, its visibility houses modular sections emulating a remote…
A large, opulent curtain sits upstage centre. Welcoming a long, lustrous dining table enveloped by an ivory tablecloth. Underneath it, a majestic round red carpet, fit for royalty. Staff in uniform stand to order. Staring straight ahead. As if butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths. As if, we are in the enclosure of a bountiful…
Upon the set of a bedroom scene, to the left of the stage, lies a dark wooden cupboard. Next to it? A white laundry basket. In the centre? A stately wooden bed, framed with curved carvings at its head and foot. Yet the bedding is plain. Sickly white to be exact. To the right? A…