Gary's House Issues Of Grief And Isolation example essay topic

Australian Contemporary theatre strongly focuses on dramatic forms and conventions, performance styles and themes, and how these reflect changing cultural, social, historical and political issues and interests. In Gary's house, written by Debra Oswald, the performance styles employed reflect the society of the battling under class of the 1970's and onwards, where overcoming grief and following the individual dream was the main influence in theatre. Similarly in The Seven Stages Of Grieving, composed by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman, adversity of the Australian, as well as overcoming it, is the central theme throughout the performance. "The landscape and the individual in their environment have a sense of isolation and grief; yet there is a sense of hope and future purpose". This statement relates to both Gary's House and The Seven Stages of Grieving, in that both plays share themes of anguish, alienation and rising above sorrow. Additionally the above statement is emphasised through the use of performance conventions and styles, whilst creating astounding dramatic impact in the plays.

In Gary's House issues of grief and isolation are presented through the land and the individual characters. In the opening scene, the audience is immediately given the impression of distress and seclusion, as the scene is "A building site on a remote bush block. Strewn with tools, piles of bricks and general building debris". The scene is set in the middle of nowhere, communicating the isolation to the audience and the tools being messily around the site, reflects the characters and how their lives are a mess. The house itself is a metaphor for the characters and their relationships. As the house literally is built before the audience's eyes, the character's relationships too build and grow, so the audience is watching as the house physically evolves, and the characters relationships as they emotionally evolve.

Just like the characters, who have all at some stage been abandoned, the house too is constantly being abandoned. In Act 2, Scene 10, Christine maliciously damages the house, ultimately creating great dramatic impact, as the audience by this point has become attached to the house, primarily because the house itself has become like a character in the play. The house being destroyed reflects how the characters are falling apart and the affliction they are experiencing, however Scene 11, possibly the most effective scene in the play, brings a sense of hope, as it shows the house at dawn, with nothing but the sounds of the bush, reflecting the environment. The contrast of the destruction of the house, with the possibility of a new day and the calming sounds of the bush, emphasises a sense of hope and future purpose, as well as creating a strong impact theatrically on the audience. Similarly a sense of hope is created through the scene immediately after Christine threatens to take the house away from Gary. Although his situation is adverse, he still continues to work on the house.

The scene is in complete darkness, except for a lamplight, producing dramatic influence as well as showing that though darkness and adversity, hope is still plausible. Another metaphor used in the performance to create dramatic effect and reflect relationships in society, is that of Christine attempting to make the screws fit into the house. When she first attempts to continue building Gary's legacy, nothing fits and no one will help her, leaving her grief stricken and frustrated, however as the play progresses and the relationship between Christine and Dave grows, she is able to make the parts fit, leaving her with feelings of triumph and joy, further communicating, that in the occurrence of isolation and grief, a sense of hope is still possible. The ending of Gary's House furthermore brings a sense of hope through adversity, contrasting realism with anti-naturalism. The audience is left with a sense of peace as well as an explosion of emotions, as they watch two people who were once so full of grief, come together.

Their house is complete, their lives are complete. So through the dramatic impact of the metaphor of the house as well as sounds, lighting and characterisation, it is shown that the landscape and the individual in their environment have a sense of grief, however hope is still feasible. In The Seven Stages Of Grieving the grief of the individual and the landscape is shown, however it is through a much different context to that of Gary's House. In their environment the Aborigines had to battle with racism, death, and a history of violence. The Seven Stages Of Grieving reflects the changing perspective on Aborigines throughout political history through the use of performance styles and conventions such as the use of the elements and visual effects, which consequently create a strong dramatic impact on the audience. The sentence "We cry together, we laugh together and we tell our stories", which is included in the text, communicates grief, hope and theatrical impact is created through the style of telling stories.

One woman stands for all Aboriginal women and she expresses their pain. The ice used in the opening scene articulates anguish as well as creating dramatic impact, as it demonstrates how grief is a gradual process, just like ice dripping. The ice is above a grave covered in red earth to show loss through death, and the red earth connects the people to the land. Red earth was also used to symbolise the red ochre used thousands of years ago for body and rock painting, the original method of story telling. In Sobbing the audience is automatically presented with the idea of isolation and distress through the woman's crying alone on stage in darkness, the darkness along with the gentle sobs creates a dramatic effect on the audience, as they do not know what is about to happen, they are only left feeling for the woman on stage. Just like in Gary's House a repeated metaphor is used, in this case it is the suitcase full of photographs.

The contents of the suitcase symbolise the past affliction and loss experienced by the woman, and it says in Photograph Story, the suitcase is comfortably out of reach, conveying its isolation. This along with the effective sound of a chair scraping on a wooden floor, communicates grief and isolation through performance conventions. The way some of the stories are delivered also contributes to communicating the suffering of the Aborigines. Murri Gets A Dress is delivered in the style of stand up comedy to show how Aborigines weren't taken seriously up until the late 20th century. Murri Gets A Dress also reflects how settlers had power over the Aborigines and were given the authority to shoot them at will. Mugshot is delivered purposely with no emotion, showing the callousness towards the Aborigines in the past.

In Aunty Grace dramatic impact is created when the woman opens the suitcase and looks up at the audience, inviting them into her experiences. She then empties the photos from the suitcase and replaces it with earth from a grave, showing the importance of the land. In Bargaining grief experienced through loss of the dead is reflected through the symbol of the cross. This scene also reflects how in 1835 a treaty was made with the Aborigines exchanging goods for land.

Dramatic impact is created through implying to the audience that a price can be put on human life and the environment. Mourning over the stolen generation is expressed in Home Story, through the woman violently destroying the piles of dirt. The audience is manipulated into trying to understand what she is explaining, then struck with the harsh realisation that the piece is about the stolen generation, thus creating dramatic impact on the audience. Through all this grief, loss and anguish however, hope is still conveyed, mostly towards the end of the performance, showing that grieving is a process, with hope being one of the final stages. When the woman releases the contents of the suitcase and images of landscape and family portraits are shown, a sense of relief and hope for the future is created, as well as a strong theatrical impact through the visual images.

Furthermore a sense of hope is established when the woman replaces the contents of the suitcase with the word reconciliation, showing how hope is ultimately replacing grief. The woman's future purpose is to pass on the stories of her people and let others know of her hardships, this is communicated when she leaves the suitcase at the foot of the audience and also leaves an impact on the audience, as they feel involved. Dramatic impact and optimism is once again created in Plea, as she is in a pool of light, face uplifted and no longer grieving. The audience is left feeling hopeful.

So although the play strongly communicates themes initially of suffering and loss, as the performance progresses the theme changes to one of hope and reconciliation, whilst reflecting the changing political views of Aborigines and creating a strong visual impact on the audience. This statement epitomizes both Gary's House and The Seven Stages Of Grieving, reflecting in them both the significant changes throughout history, which have become an integral part in Australian Contemporary theatre and the performance styles and conventions used in them.