Part of the Belonging Trilogy that includes Home and Eve, He Dreamed a Train is a sincerely personal and heartfelt production inspired by Margi Brown Ash’s brother David Brown.  Diagnosed with a degenerative neurological disease we are privy to the profound effect David’s decline has on his loved ones.  Margi has long explored the concepts of home and belonging and the play begins stands frankly in front of us and asks us to consider “What if this is where you belong?” 

 

The set is unassuming, a chair, sofa, piano, bookcase, a painting you would find in St Vinny’s, a few miscellaneous items and strewn clothing, but it is a deception of the grandest order.  As He Dreamed a Train moves along its 70 minutes, this set will become wondrous and magical, poignant, even frightening under the skilful collaboration of AV Designer (Benjamin Knapton) and AV Content (Nathan Stibthorpe).  I am giving no spoilers because you need to experience it for yourself.

 

David lived alone, rejecting familial assistance, long after deemed capable of independent living.  We watch Margi meander through the old family home touching mementoes, taking phone calls, making herself a cup of tea, and reminiscing.  Turning on the radio but incapable of listening for any length, white noise floods her thoughts as she commences unbundling her grief utilising a fusion of poetry, myths, and stark reality.  Guilt, loneliness, humour, frustration even rage surface in a stunningly elegant performance from Margi.

 

Margi’s son Travis Ash, a talented actor, writer and musician, gives us a standout moment portraying a youthful David regaling his family with his wondrous story telling.   Standing on coffee table, flaming torch in hand, Travis as a young David recounts a mashed up version of the Myth of Er and the Dragon King.  The Dragon King is a Chinese weather and water god, but interestingly in mathematics or finance, a DK refers to an event huge in size or impact like a king, and born of a unique origin like a dragon.  DK’s are associated with the changes and tipping points of complex out-of-equilibrium systems.  A perfect allegory for David, a man brimming with life and passion whose turning point came too soon.

 

Jumping from the past to the present, He Dreamed a Train does not follow a linear narrative; but you are never lost because this is a play about feeling.  Even if the more abstract poetry sections are unclear, Benjamin Knapton has directed in such a way that the meaning and emotion has absolute clarity.  Memory recall being fallible and highly subjective, we are left to question what is fact, what is fiction, and what is truth, just as FOC intended.

 

At one point, a single tear ran from my right eye and I cannot tell you exactly what it was that triggered this response.  David Brown was spot on when he said of his book “I hope it speaks to you, perhaps in ways you cannot describe” for that is exactly how I felt witnessing this beautiful show.   Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett singing “Bike” was a bittersweet musical close and I recommend getting yourself to the Powerhouse this weekend to experience a show unlike anything else you will see this year.

 

Reviewed by Lisa Bingham

 

He Dreamed a Train by Force of Circumstance (FOC) Brisbane Powerhouse Visy Theatre

29th June to 16th July