Hello, Stranger! | The Drawer Productions

After dazzling punters last year with their stellar debut production Shelter, The Drawer Productions (TDP) returns to the Anywhere Festival with their equally impressive sophomore effort, Hello, Stranger!

Created in partnership with Alzheimer's Queensland, Hello, Stranger! tells three interconnected stories of the impacts of dementia on both the old and young, as well as those who care for them. We are first introduced to ‘Zombie’ and ‘Nurse’, played by Molly Walker and Teah Peters, young friends at a high-school party who don’t want the night to end. After being kicked out of the party, we meet Kip and Dot Potts, played by Patrick Galen-Mules and Ada Lukin (who was replacing Tegan Braithwaite for the evening), an older couple who are trying to achieve everything on Dot’s bucket list while she still can. Finally there’s Big and Small, played by Matias Nuñez and Indiah Morris, a young couple trying to make sense of Small’s rapidly deteriorating condition.

Over the course of the show, the audience was led through the homes and lived experience of the three pairs. Mixing audience interaction with immersive theatre, we were thrown into the world of the partners to see the devastating impacts of dementia on by the afflicted and those who care for them.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom as can often be seen with productions focus on this theme, TDP also showcased the strategies that those living with dementia employ to cope with the hand they’ve been dealt and how they can still lead joyous, meaningful lives whilst dealing with the challenges of the condition.

Dementia may seem like an odd choice for the theme of young company’s sophomore effort, and I was curious to see how TDP would approach the topic. Creator and Director Ada Lukin was inspired by her family’s experience of her Grandmother’s dementia diagnosis in 2019 to create the show. It was obvious how much care and attention the team put into the stories we were presented through Hello, Stranger, the least of which was working in partnership with Alzheimer’s Queensland. This partnership paid off, with production ensuring that their characters were fully realized, were presented with dignity, and represented of the experiences of those living with dementia, and that stories would resonate long after the show.

I still find myself pondering many questions days after watching Hello, Stranger! Who are we without our memories and sense of self? How can relationships survive when one partner doesn’t remember the other and needs ongoing care and support? How do we judge quality of life? And if that’s not the sign of a impactful work, I don’t know what is.

Similar to Shelter, TDP immerses the audience into the lives of its main characters to tell its story. This time however, the team utilized a promenade style of performance for Hello, Stranger to guide us through the worlds of their characters, as opposed to the more immersive style that was employed for Shelter. While I missed the freedom of exploration and the secrets that could be uncovered in their previously outing, the tighter audience control better immersed me into the three stories showcased in the production.

Utilising the old Queenslander of West End’s House Conspiracy we were lead between rooms and the levels of the house for an intimate peak into the lives of the characters. The house was the perfect set for Hello, Stranger, taking us directly into their worlds, but it showcased one my biggest quibble with audiences in Meanjin – they still generally need to be educated about how participate in immerse performances. Despite regular urgings from the production team and even some punters, many in the audience seemed reluctant to move or just wanted to hang back in the tight corridors of the house when scenes changed. On a few occasions, some of the rooms utilized also proved to be too small for all to fit inside and see the action of the scene.

I’m not sure if this was a result of audience being nervous about having participate in the show, not wanting to interrupt the performance, having too many punters in the space, people still being nervous about COVID or a combination of these things, but the crowding that happened between scenes did slightly impact on my enjoyment of the show. I got frustrated with the audience a number of times when I missed the beginnings of a number of scenes due to their reluctance to squish into the room the scene was set in. At times I had to push past people in a corridor to get into a room with plenty of space and even occasionally felt I needed to invite people into the space myself so that they would feel comfortable to move into the room of the next scene. Some further audience management (or a more spacious house) would be great for future runs, be it through guiding the audience into rooms and having a more in-depth pre-show briefing about immersive etiquette will help to keep the show moving. At least for this slightly frustrated punter.

Despite this, the writing and performances were all top notch. Indiah Morris and Matias Nuñez particularly impressed as Small and Big, the former giving a wonderfully nuanced performance of a young woman rapidly losing herself to dementia and the latter of a partner who had unexpectedly become a carer early in life. Patrick Galen-Mules and Ada Lukin’s Kip and Dot were equally hilarious, hopeful and heartbreaking and thankfully steered away from stereotypical portrayals of older people that you can often see from young performers. Molly Walker and Teah Peters gave us teenagers full of life and hope.

Ada Lukin’s direction ensured we truly felt like we had entered the characters’ worlds. The twist on audience interaction worked well for the show and use of promenade style was used to great effect, particularly to show us the quiet moments of characters, as we passed them while travelling between scene. We were provided with glimpses of many of the characters either dealing with the effects of living with dementia or being a carer, which were powerful in their simplicity. And the final scenes upstairs? Most of the audience were visibly moved. I for one had to wipe away a few tears.

Wonderfully written and directed and full of beautiful, nuanced performances, Hello, Stranger! showcases the incredible talents of The Drawer Productions. Moving, challenging, educative, funny and full it impactful moments that have stayed with me, it was another standout production from one of Meanjin’s companies to watch. It was certainly one of the standout shows of the 2022 Anywhere Festival for me.

Once again the team from The Drawer Productions transported the audience into another world and we’re all the better for it. I cannot wait to see what they produce next. With the buzz spreading about this young company, get in quick when they release their next production, as they will surely continue to sell out. Highly recommended.