Ruins | أطلال - Belvoir 25A (NSW)

Produced by Clockfire Theatre Company. Written by Emily Ayoub, Madeline Baghurst, and Mine Cerci

Ruins أطلال is a masterful and punchy piece of physical theatre and storytelling that is worth a watch.

Reviewed by Billy Chapman

A Clockfire Theatre Company Production

1 October – 20 October 2024

Tickets: https://belvoir.com.au/productions/ruins/

Ruins أطلال is in fact worth two watches. At only 40 minutes in length, Ruins races by so quickly that you might need a moment to dry your eyes when the lights come on. The power of this production is in its manipulation of the setting to transport us to Lebanon.

In the wake of her father’s death, Amelia Alyssa (Emily Ayoub) travels to her ancestral homeland in the city of Baalbek بَعْلَبَكّ. She was supposed to travel there with her father, Joe (Toni Poli), who booked most of the trip before he unexpectedly died. The story follows Amelia’s journey to Baalbek, her stay in the quirky Palmyra Hotel, and her visit to the Baalbek ruins. It is narrated by Joe, her deceased father, who is an omnipotent presence throughout the piece.

Frankie Clarke’s lighting was essential in the play’s structure. The cold beam of light used on Joe, along with the interwoven dialogue with his daughter, upheld the barrier between life and death that rested between them. This barrier held steadfast for most of the play until one moment. Every play needs a moment like this, one that sticks in the mind on departure.

Amelia is beginning to feel unsettled in the hotel room that her father has booked for her. The sandy, warm lights that are a staple of this production, change to a washed-out blue. The desk mirror in front of her, held by actress Madeline Bathurst, begins to slowly move across the room, reflecting a beam of pale white light. Suddenly, the light lands upon Joe’s face and for the first time in the play, Amelia sees him from across the dark abyss.

Physical theatre is at the heart of Ruins. The production is a prompt reminder of the benefit of smaller-scale theatre. You get to see the actors in the heat of battle, the sweat beading on their foreheads, you see the endless hours of blocking manifest themselves in beautifully crisp staging.

Adam Alkuheli, Madeline Baghurst, and Piumi Wejesundara earned their cheers and warm reception during the bows for an exceptional show of physicality. It is a considerable achievement to have swept us away to Lebanon, to have made us laugh and cry, and to have made us think, all in such an intimate space, and under a budget of $2,500.

...at the forefront of a trend in Australian theatre exploring stories of migration.

Ayooub, Artistic Director at Clockfire Theatre Company, deserves a mention for her unification of the elements in this production and her convincing performance as Amelia. Poli was also incredibly captivating as Joe and made a sensational storyteller. The pair of them could have committed more to their conflict during flashback, which might have made their tension a touch more convincing.

Ruins is at the forefront of a trend in Australian theatre exploring stories of migration. As Joe reminds Amelia that their people invented the number system, I could not help but remember my Pappou insisting that Greek is the basis of English. I felt for Amelia as she struggled to keep up with the pace of the Arab speakers, just as I fumble through my own basic Greek introductions.

We think of Australia as multicultural, and it has been in the last couple of centuries. But the city of Baalbek has ebbed and flowed for the last eleven thousand years. It is difficult for us in Australia to wrap our heads around the scale of this cultural timeline. It has been home to Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and Mongols. It is not only pre-biblical; it is pre-historical.

Productions like Ruins give us a taste of the mythology, the culture and stories that have travelled here and which continue to take root and proliferate.

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Cast

Emily Ayoub

Adam Al Kuheli

Madeline Baghurst

Tony Poli

Piumi Wijesundara

Gianna Cheung Flautist

Jessica Scott Flautist

Creatives

Emily Ayoub Co-Director

Madeline Baghurst Co-Director

Michael Mohammed Ahmad Script Consultant

Kate Gaul Artistic Producer

Laura Turner Video Designer

Frankie Clarke Lighting Designer

Johnny Yang Composer

Dylan Ford Stage Manager