I first discovered
Ross Mueller’s Construction
of the Human Heart in 2008 or 2009, in the university library, and became
fascinated by its conceit, its design and its delicious ambiguity, but until
now have not had a chance to see it performed. Enter then, Apocalypse Theatre Company with
their current production currently playing at the intimate Tap Gallery theatre
in Darlinghurst. Written in one act, Mueller’s play unfolds with a directness
and a beguiling fragility, and exposes the very constructedness of theatre.
Perhaps better
called ‘Deconstructing theatre’, the story revolves around a Couple, two
unnamed characters, simply referred to as ‘Him’ and ‘Her’. They are both
playwrights, we discover, and as the play unfolds over its lean sixty-five
minutes, they build around themselves as much as us a fortress of words. But,
like the best defences, it begins to crack, until their words crack open,
meaning bleeding onto the stage, and they desperately cling to their disappearing
words, to themselves, to each other, trying to remember how to go on, how to Be.
