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Voices: The Carrical Project

By Candlelight Productions and Servants Community Housing

Reviewed by Sophie Gyles

14 Sep 2011

2:29pm Wednesday, 14th September 2011  

The producers of Voices: The Carrical Project know the power of theatre and they're not afraid to use it. They know when you watch a movie, see a play, read a novel or view a painting, you give the artist permission to venture deeper into your heart than you will let anyone else. You do it without thinking.

Set in a boarding house in Melbourne's western suburbs, Voices speaks to the small-minded jerk in all of us which whispers judgement on the mentally ill, drug-addicted or downtrodden. And it manages to do it without resorting to cliché.

Arriving in the theatre, the audience is ushered across the stage to their seats, passing the actors already in character who are smoking, fidgeting, making a cup of tea. Straight away we feel part of the action, invested in the fate of these men.

As the play goes on it emerges one is a father, another is a recovering drug addict, two have had people close to them die suddenly and one has been in a car accident - all facts which lie dormant until they're given the opportunity to surface in everyday conversation.

This is perhaps the lesson of Voices: we judge people before we've even caught a glimpse of what they've been through.

The actors each spent time at Carrical House, where the play is set, meeting the residents and hearing their stories. It shows in their performances. It's easy to forget you are watching theatre as the actors mimic the gestures of men plagued by mental illness. But this is more than just a recreation, it's an attempt to honour and dignify the disadvantaged.

There's a beautiful moment when Richard, lover of poetry and mentally ill since his car accident, sits down at the piano. Without notice, he bashes out a concerto, stunning his boarding house mates. As if speaking about the play itself, one of them reflects on the power of music, saying "If you can move the heart, then you can reach the mind."

Good art so speaks to our gut that our our head can't talk us out of it and Voices does just that.

Playing at The Open Stage, Melbourne University, until September 17

http://www.candlelightproductions.com.au/index.php/coming-events/6-voices-2011