Like an
archaeological dig site, a mound of sand intrudes upon Griffin’s corner stage,
bursting through a window, cascading downwards onto the sandy carpet. Through
the window, a garden, dark leafy foliage. And inside the house? Well, there’s
an argument going on, an argument perfected and cemented over time, and we’re
thrust headfirst into the world of Sophie, a twenty-something archaeology
student, her “mad Arab” family and her girlfriend Sam. There is no question of
where we are, familially-speaking, and as the play’s ninety-odd minutes unfold before
us, we shift backwards and forwards through time, through memories and stories,
half-truths and disguises, dreams, sleepless nights; family history, anxious projections
and conversations with people who can’t be there anymore.
Donna Abela’s Jump For
Jordan won the 2013 Griffin Award, and is presented here in its
premiere production in conjunction with the Sydney Mardi Gras by Griffin Theatre
Company. As described in the script’s notes, “the scenes in the play are often
constructed of layers of narrative that collapse in on each other... Attention
must be on context as well as content. The borders between scenes are intended
to be porous.” To use the
archaeological metaphor again (it is apt, after all), Abela’s play digs
through several layers of accumulated strata, sifting fact from fiction, family
stories from emotions and reality, and the result is a beautiful and moving exploration
of identity, culture and relationships, both romantic and familial, and trying
to reconcile all the disparate elements of your life with one another.
