Dreams in White by Duncan Graham - Review

Andrew McFarlane and Sara West, picture Brett Boardman

Dreams in White is a world Première presented by the Griffin Theatre Company.  This production is a first for the Griffin Theatre Company as it marks the first writer/director collaboration, uniting the  work of Duncan Graham, with the direction of Tanya Goldberg (Way To Heaven, The Story of Mary MacLane by Herself, The Blind Date Project).
Dreams in White is a dramatic tale of deceit and murder. It is cleverly constructed using grapefruit as a metaphor for Michael Devines bitter/ sweet life; double life.  There are also similarities between Michael and his daughter Amy.  The play is quite sinister and it leaves you wondering what is the relationship between Father and Daughter and is the line between the two going to be crossed?
The play begins almost at the end of the story with Paula Anderson (Mandy McElhinney) and Gary Anderson (Steve Rodgers) trying to come to terms with what seems like an unwanted visitor, Ray Wimple (Andrew MacFarlane). Who Ray is and why they don't want to let him in, isn't clear until later in the play.   The next scene jumps back in time and you see Michael Devine (Andrew MacFarlane) in conversation over some revealing photos of his daughter, Amy Devine (Sara West), which he finds on his computer.  I did wonder about the language used in the Father/Daughter scenes.  She calls him a "Sick Fuck" and "Just Fucking shut up" they just seem to conflict with the obvious respect that she does hold for him.  He plays the concerned father, but what is really playing out in him mind, we never find out.  We then meet Anne Devine, (Lucy Bell) the devoted loving wife, who is preparing for a TV appearance regarding her husbands disappearance. We then cut back to Paula and Gary who are cleaning up after what you guess is a murder. Next, we are introduced to two new characters Julia White (Lucy Bell) and Gary Anderson (Steve Rodgers). They are going to be looking at property, through property developer, Michael Devine. As you will have already noticed the actors played more than one character which takes good directing and acting. The only issue I had with Julia and Gary was that I had no idea how they really fitted with the rest of the story. Their scenes didn't really add anything to play apart from the rather shocking moment when Gary has a break down and ends up semi nude in the middle of the show house.  Mandy McElhinney also plays the Psychiatrist that Anne visits to try to come to terms with what has happened.  There is a good mix of tension, despair, blame and distrust and Anne starts to talk about what has happened.  There are no costume changes in the production, so with the time changes and actors playing multiple characters, and one character with a double persona, it did get a bit confusing, however, if you kept in my mind that it will all become clear in the end it does!
This production will not be to everyones taste, there is cause language, semi nudity, masturbation, not forgetting the violent murder! However, the production was very well directed by Tanya Goldberg and the dialogue was skilfully written. The mobile phone plays a prominent role in this play and called for some very accurate timing.   It flowed well and the play had a good pace about it.  All in all I had  a very enjoyable 80 minutes, which kept me thinking and talking about it for quite some time afterwards.

Dreams in White
By Duncan Graham. SWB Stables Theatre, Sydney.
Tickets $32-$49. Bookings (02) 9361 3817. Until March 23.