The National Theatre performances of Sydney Theatre Co’s examination of colonialism are dedicated to the actress Ningali Lawford-Wolf, who died suddenly during its Edinburgh Festival run. Pauline Whyman has stepped in to read her role as the narrator, which neither mars the play’s effectiveness nor softens its coarseness.
It’s a necessary story: the genocidal war settlers waged on Australia’s indigenous people is insufficiently acknowledged. In Andrew Bovell’s adaptation of Kate Grenville’s novel, though, it’s boiled down into the tale of Will and Sal Thornhill. They’re good-hearted cockneys transported in the 1800s for crimes brought on by poverty. Now they’re trying to carve out a future in an unforgiving place that is already occupied.
The events that unfold — suspicion, tentative friendship, tension, violence — are juxtaposed by the Thornhills’ affection for each other and their children. The emotional crescendos work even though you can see them coming.
The leads are personable and Neil Armfield’s production features more decent roles for indigenous actors than I’ve seen in any Aussie play in London. But the white male performers ham up the settlers’ sadism and savagery terribly and there’s a looming sense of self-congratulation in this cultural expiation for past sins.
Until Sep 7 (020 7452 3000; nationaltheatre.org.uk)
