Brisbane review - Dear Brother: just flat-out wonderful
By Nahima Abraham
Dear Brother
Written by Lenny Donahue and Tibian Wyles
Directed by Isaac Drandic
Presented by Queensland Theatre
Merivale Street
West End
Season ends September 28. Duration 90 mins without interval.
Under the firmament of velvet night, a man approaches. His skin, painted in ceremonial stripes and swirls glows with an ethereal light. His aura, alight with an internal power, brought to a captive audience tradition going back some 60 thousand years. Then the play began.
Following the story of three Aboriginal men, proud of their craft, and heritage; their stories intertwine. Ezra (Lenny Donahue), Jazz (Benjin Maza), and Destyn (Tibian Wyles) all foster a desire to touch their creativity, buried deep down under filial duty. Jazz has to live out his father’s (Kelton Pell) life by becoming a basketball player for the Taipans. Yet, his desire to sing and create music fights an internal battle within himself. Ezra has fled from becoming a new father, yet under the gentle guidance of his grandfather (also Kelton Pell) he makes the decision to move south to study dance, and be closer to his son, to be a better person and father.
Finally, there is Destyn. Destyn has a vague past; however, he spends his quiet moments writing un-reciprocated letters to his old brother. This unrequited love coupled with Jazz’s internal conflict, and Ezra’s pain makes the Dear Brother even more real. That somehow, the stories of these three men, tied together by love of creation, create something even more profound. This play was a clear and true celebration of life. That there is so much more to just an ordinary life.
There were moments to laugh about, and moments to shed some tears. Dear Brother was a rollercoaster of a performance and each of the four actors paid tribute in their own ways to their people, their craft. It was spectacular. There is nothing more to be said about this play, it was just flat-out wonderful. In the moments of triumph, the moments of tenderness, lies much, much more. I hope you make the time to see Dear Brother, it is an important piece of theatre and everyone should be out to see it.
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