Saturday 22 March 2025

Loading Dock Theatre

Qtopia

James Elazzi is one of Australia’s freshest theatrical voices and his new play, Saints of Damour firmly cements his place as a – I want to say great but maybe it’s too early for that – let’s say formidable Australian playwright. His ability to mine the emotional depths and drama from every situation with such clarity and coherence, whilst leavening it with humour and razor sharp insight always leaves an audience emotionally drained and artistically satisfied.

The story begins in a Lebanese village. Pierre (Antony Makhlouf) is a 2nd generation tomato grower selling his produce at the local market. By chance he meets and falls deeply in love with Samir (Saro Lepejian), a welder and member of their  small community. Feelings are mutual as their clandestine affair  grows but is tragically torn apart by civil war, a subsequent migration to Australia, and ties and commitments to traditional family expectations and demands. This is a story of how love can survive and endure excruciating hardships over decades; and as much about how without the love and companionship of one’s desire – a soul mate or love ideal found then lost – survival becomes almost impossible. The two protagonists are expertly played with Makhlouf’s range always very convincing, from tender young love through bitter familial conflicts to yearning and loss. The inner struggle is always perceptible on his face, in his voice and in every movement his body makes.

Pierre’s mother (Sydney Theatre Award nominee , Deborah Galanos) is a tour de force, we know we are in the consummate hands of a skilled actor. Battling external and internal disruptions to keep her family together, she is the matriarch who has to fight everyone’s desires and ambitions in order for their long term chances to survive and flourish. Galanos’ remarkable gamut can swing between determined strength quickly turning to capricious humour and vanity then emotional pain without missing a beat and still remain real and authentic – it’s absolutely believable, convincing.

And then there is the neighbour and Pierre’s contracted wife (Nicole Chamoun) who is the catalyst for change, from traditional farm life in Lebanon through hardship establishing a new life in Goondiwindi and finally a new hip urban life in Sydney. The slow realisation that her husband is gay and unlikely to father her desperately wanted child, is portrayed with growing hostility and eventually a loving acceptance of the reality. 

The 5th actor (Max Cattana) plays Pierre’s gay casual lover in Sydney with again such delicate nuance. From the flighty flirt in the nightclub to the caring and nurturing lover that he believes is what Pierre needs more than anything. 

Five brilliant performances that were totally convincing throughout the almost three hour production. With a script like the one Elazzi delivers, their job was only made easier. 

The Loading Dock Theatre is an intimate space that seats about 100 people. The stage had to extend into the tiered seating steps on several occasion in order to contain the action. There were several moments where the suspension of belief was interrupted by the lack of space that groaned under the vast temporal and physical boundaries of this love story. Max Cattana’s role in the first half had us wondering what is the stage hand doing sitting within the drama. He was more like an extra in a movie and a mover of sets. And suddenly after interval we understood why he was there, because he is a seasoned expert actor. I think Director, Anthony Skuse did well to maintain the illusion despite the limitations of the space, but too often there were characters on stage who were not part of the action, leading to a diminution of the scene. Having said that the intimacy of this new fabulous space – part of the Qtopia complex that also includes galleries and offices – brought us closer to the players so we felt more nearly their feelings, their wants, their dreams and their desires and above all, sometimes, excruciating emotional pain.

The use of Eleni Karaindrou’s film score from The Weeping Meadow was inspired. That film also tells a story of arranged marriages, migration and disruption and the music echoed the drama throughout the play almost as if it were composed specifically for that purpose. 

This is Qtopia’s first foray into theatre production. It started its life as a play-reading, and the script was so compelling that they had to produce it in their new theatre – what a beginning! The words are strong enough to be so contained, and the cast and crew rose to the challenges and created an entire world over three decades and three vastly different landscapes. But the credit goes to James Elazzi. To pull together the themes of love and loss, search for identity both queer and migrant, dealing with racism, bigotry and homophobia, conflicting demands of traditional family life, desire and survival itself, is the hallmark of a creative genius. And to the poignant end that is equal to a Shakespearean tragedy – the despair at the realisation of the ultimate loss is what leads to our hero’s downfall. I’m sure I was not the only one whose spectacles were fogging up with tears.

You can listen to a recent interview with James Elazzi here: