Circa Theatre
Oct 13-Nov 10 | Reviewed by Simon Sweetman

Home Land opens with the fall of the main character. Southland-based ex-farmer Ken dodders in to the lounge with his walking frame and topples over. He is in his house alone. There is silence punctuated by wheezing, spluttering and puffing as Ken tries to get back to his feet. It is hard to watch – an indication that things could get just a little overwrought. From here we learn that Ken is going to a home – his family believes it is time for him to be cared for, rather than to live alone. This brings with it a range of emotions and the interplaying of different filial dynamics.

Ken’s son Graeme (Gavin Rutherford) and his wife Trish (Tina Regtien) look after the land and help Ken with cups of tea and meals. It has been quite a bind for them for quite some time. Graeme’s sister Denise (Michele Amas) flew the coop some time ago. She arrives back from Auckland to visit, to help with final arrangements. Her husband Paul (Peter Hambleton) and daughter Sophie (Jodie Hillock) round out the supporting characters.

It is a talented ensemble bringing to life the brilliant natural dialogue and real-life scenarios. But it is Grant Tilly as Ken that constantly steals the show, a grandfather that repeatedly says “eh?!” and “ooh, I spose?” with deft timing; each time he repeats himself he adds another layer to his character, the audience begins to feel the emotional pain of the situation.

Home Land is the best play I have ever seen – by which I mean it is the work of drama that has affected me most. The actors were spot on, the feel of the play, the look of the stage set (a very real two rooms of a New Zealand farm house with that fourth wall removed for the audience to spy in from) and the sound of the dialogue – this is a New Zealand story that is universal. And that is why it is so affecting and effective. We have all been one of the characters in this story, or we will be. We have either been through this, or we will go through it – at the very least we have heard about how it happens to friends and extended family. Maybe someone in the audience watching was the granddaughter in the situation, maybe someone had been one of the bickering sisters-in-law; the son-in-law that feels too removed from the geographic location to offer the right level of empathy; the person that can feel themselves growing old enough to recognise that they could one day, sooner perhaps, rather than later, be faced with this decision for themselves; and that someone else might actually be making it?

That doesn’t make the play sound like a happy work; but it is – there are so many joyous moments and lovely touches of colloquial, quirky Kiwi humour. It is a play that needs to be seen. And one that I shall be going to see again.

See also:
» Home Land (Reviewed by Helen Sims)