Theatre Company: Riverside Productions
Writer: Suzie Miller
Director: Tim Jones
Cast: Glenn Hazeldine, Celia Ireland, Anna Lise Phillips, Amy Mathews and Ed Wightman
Location: Seymour Centre (University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia)

Synopsis (from the flyer):

In the countdown to Christmas the disappearance of a young boy rocks a small town, instigating a chain of events that will alter the lives of everyone involved.
For Simon, the world that he has built was a second chance: in the eyes of the law he has paid for his mistake. Given a new identity, new history and a single confidante, he has successfully buried the truth of his past; even from Jessica, the woman he loves. But will events force Simon to step outside the prison his new identity has become and does the community have the right to know who he really is?
The recipient of the Kit Denton award for brave and courageous writing, Transparency had an acclaimed season at the Belfast Festival with the prestigious Ransom Theatre Company. This will be its Australian Premiere.

My Thoughts:

Although I wish I hadn’t, I found this production laboured and long. The heavy issues that the playwright set out to deal with, which I agree are both interesting and thought-provoking, were too obvious and intrusive.
There were parts of it that were really great: The depiction of a genuine affection between Simon and Jessica; The inventive way that the background story of the missing child was told by a character who was the radio news announcer for the town; and the use of the suitcases that carried emotional as well as actual baggage.
However these were not enough to outweigh the heavy-handedness that I thought was still evident in the way the underlying issues were handled.