Portraits: A Haunted Mansion | Observatory Theatre
“It’s not a brand. We’re not cattle… Godbold is just a bunch of sh*tty letters.”*
Lachlan Driscoll’s – playwright and director – new work, Portraits: A Haunted Mansion, epitomises the Australian Gothic genre while exploring the complexities of toxic familial structures. The play follows the Godbold family as they adapt to rapid changes in their family hierarchy after their father, Ivan (James Hogan), suffers from a stroke. Estranged siblings, Josephine (Rebecca Day) and Martin (Emile Regano), are forced back together to confront unspoken traditions, secrets, memories, trauma, and ghosts.
The minimalistic stage design focussed my attention purely on the storytellers and I was engaged in the messy lives of the Godbold family. Although all four actors in Portraits were wonderful to watch, I did find at times that some of the characters seemed like caricatures behaving larger than the confines that the space would allow. The piece was performed last month in a larger venue, and this was their first night in the smaller venue. Knowing this, I was uncertain whether the large characters were directorial choices or whether the actors hadn’t the time to adapt to the space. It certainly didn’t detract from my experience with the piece, and I still thought the performance was beautifully done.
One performer in particular was a true shining star. Rebecca Day, who played Josephine, adapted to the small space and was incredibly captivating and emotive. She found subtle ways to make her character stand out in big ways.
Portraits was performed in a small room inside a community centre in Wynnum. The room was clearly not created as a performance space but worked well with the aesthetic of the play. The walls, lined with community photographs, paintings, and artwork, were dimly lit, setting the eery mood and tone of the play. I think that the pictures on the walls, although not placed intentionally, really allowed me to imagine the large, old house owned by the Godbold family. The house was full of a haunting, dark-but-quiet, history. The soundscape that played throughout the performance highlighted the eery and beautiful way that Gothic theatre makes a space tell its own story – almost like the site of performance, or the place it is set, is a character in its own right.
Although I loved the performance space and felt that it fit the aesthetic of Portraits, I couldn’t help but imagine how location would impact the implications of the play. As I was leaving the venue, I looked sideways at an old-Queenslander. It was dimly lit, and in the low lighting looked slightly run down. I felt a chill pass through me, and I considered how that site probably has a story to tell, and it would make a beautiful and emotive site-specific stage for an Australian Gothic play, such as Portraits.
The lasting message that I left with was that memories and traditions can haunt for generations. It is, ultimately, your choices that shape you as an individual and determine whether you follow in the footsteps or go against the grain of your family.
*Quote: Portraits: A Haunted Mansion by Lachlan Driscoll
