Live theatre at the Riverside Theatre in Parramatta (May 2021) with Jane Phegan, 55 minutes with no break.
Described as a verbal essay by a woman whose lifelong dream was to see the Amazon River (page 132 on her schoolgirl atlas) and voyage along the great river, as if into the unknown. That dream come true segues into a metaphor for her father’s parallel voyage into the unknown lands of dementia. Sounds grim perhaps but it is punctuated with wit and insights that relieve the doom and gloom of the inevitable.
There is even a reference to Fordlandia and Henry Ford, and one does not hear that everyday, and Fitzcarraldo (1982), Hank and Fitz were not alone in their failed attempts to conquer the Amazon, but there is no reference to the other Amazon that is a contemporary fact of life, and seems alike impervious to time and tide. I have read about Fordlandia and commented on the books linked below for those who must know.
Something caught my eye and interest when I read about this one-woman play, maybe it was a reference to Fordlandia, and after due diligence I got tickets on-line for a Saturday matinee and on the appointed day off we went by Metro train via Strathfield. We have been largely bunkered and hunkered down for more than a year like everyone else and it was a treat venturing to distant Parramatta, strolling the streets for a light lunch, dining, and crossing the river to the theatre, and then returning home in the fading sunlight. Though rain was in the forecast it missed us.
The stroll was more like dodging around a construction site as the Parramatta tram line works seems to have totally taken over Church Street.
While that production has come and gone, it may be revived again. Take note. The writer’s website is linked below.