The Removalists

The theatre is not dead - IRL is hip.

I saw The Removalists on Saturday afternoon. It’s a play I know extremely well and yet this was the first time I had ever seen it. How could that be? Well, I’ve read it more times than I could count and I know much of the dialogue by heart, because, in 1993, I played Constable Ross in the Essendon Theatre Company’s production. It was my stage debut and the performance of my career.

It’s a stunning play. No doubt it has its faults, but the dialogue rips along and the portrayal of misogynist violence and police brutality is completely believable. My character, Constable Ross, played in this MTC production by William McKenna, is on his first day at his first posting. His day of torment, as he is bullied and goaded by his superior, Sergeant Simmonds and then by Kenny, the violent husband, brings out the worst in him. He is alternately nervous about his new job, perplexed that it’s not turning out as he expected, sullen and resentful as Simmonds bullies him and then explosively violent in the play’s shocking climax. I watched all of this yesterday afternoon as if watching myself. I got on stage once - well, about eight times, if memory serves - and did all of this too.

In all modesty, the Essendon Theatre Company did a great job of it. We had a strong cast and a director who brought out the best in us. We had some great props too, including the best sky-blue shirts the op-shop could provide and a huge, 1970s, colour TV which I rescued from a Fitzroy laneway. Younger readers will have no idea of how heavy those tellies were. To get this one stage-worthy we took that back off it and pulled out as much of the contents as we could. It still weighed about a ton. The play describes Ross as doing most of the heavy lifting under the direction of the removalist. I knew my craft and I could make an empty cardboard box appear like a concrete block. But there was no need to pretend with that giant television as I staggered across the stage each night with burning arms and jelly legs.

Our fight scenes were choreographed and rehearsed with some precision. After one performance the director said he was sure I’d actually copped a whack in the face, such was our precision with fake punch and sound effect.

I liked very much how the MTC production is set around 1971, when the play was written. Typewriters on desks, old-style Victoria Police uniforms, some excellent ‘70s dresses. The dialogue has not been updated - Simmonds boasts about his mortgage repayments being five dollars a week. But what could an old play about the patriarchy and police brutality have to say to a contemporary audience?

Far too much for comfort, that’s what. We sat three rows from the front and the impact of the bullying and violence was frequently overwhelming. Watching such powerful live drama is an emotional earthquake.

If you can’t get along to the MTC production before it ends on 17 April, I recommend The Removalists as a quick read. It was much studied in schools and every op-shop has a copy.