AMERICAN SONG
As a title for a show, American Song evokes memories of a time when America was wholesome and great. It brings forth not only names such as Plath, Whitman and Emerson, but also more contemporary works like Bruce Springsteen’s Streets of Philadelphia or I’m On Fire.
But in more recent times with the sentiment of Making American Great Again being brought back into public realm by one of the most dangerous presidents to ever be elected, we delve headfirst into the turbulence of this story. A solo performance and a blistering account of love, Walt Whitman’s words introduce us to a young man full of whim, then to the future wife and mother of his child in a series of beautiful passages. What helps steer this performance and allows it to remain grounded is the physical act of building a wall — we need not think too deeply here to find other loaded metaphors. The narrative slips between present and past, and as this laborious activity is finally completed, what this performance continues to allude to comes stealthily upon us.
The name given to the character that this story centres upon is Andy, played by Joe Peruzzi, who here brings a sense of grand American cinematic tradition in his deliverance of his role. He plays on the heartstrings and explores the nuances and various layers of emotional trauma and elation to a point where this performance is nothing short of palpable. Even, as minor criticism, a couple of moments where lines were forgotten, Peruzzi quickly picked up his game and continues to have audience eating out of the palm of his hand. Director Tom Healy flexes his creative muscles, and each member of the creative team should be commended for making such a thing of Leaves of Green.
Like a slice of apple pie, we cut through the crisp, still hot from the oven crust, until the edge of our butterknife meet its gooey insides, except the apples used here are rotten. As we edge closer to the gritty themes that are at the centre of this work, the reality of liberal gun laws and the violence that has become more prevalent in recent times holds us ransom. We finally land amid shocking atrocity. These two individuals once so close are now torn apart, and in the face of not only losing a child, are considered the perpetrators of a crime no parent should ever have to face. There is no resolute ending here, no neat Hollywood conclusion: this once young man, now broken.
Red Stitch have, and continue to impress with their 2017 program, in presenting American Song, it’s perhaps true that here, we do not meditate upon issue’s of the Australian identity. But this work does offer a counterpoint. As to a degree, we still call ‘The Lucky Country’ our home. With Australian gun laws having been tightened in the wake of Port Arthur we can be thankful at least, that these songs be American and not of our own corral.