After graduating from Belvoir Street Theatre’s experimental space 25A, this poetic production of Ruins and its tales from the Arab diaspora has now landed at the Seymour Centre.
Produced by Emily Ayoub and Madeline Baghurst for Clockfire Theatre Company, Ruins reprises the cast and creatives from the 25A production and now presents the stories of Australian Arabs returning to Lebanon in the midst of a civil war in greater detail and with cultural backstories.
Southwest Sydney company Clockfire Theatre deserve their own back story. They are early proponents of Jacques Lecoq, a French physical movement and visual language teacher and integrate his theory into their artistic process, which heavily informs their approach to Ruins.
Ruins’ script, devised by Ayoub and Baghurst, follows Amelia Alissa to her homeland of Lebanon after her father’s death.
In the mists of myth and memory, during a stay at Baalbek’s Palmyra Hotel Ameila discovers her past and finds that it interconnects with that of her father in the 1980s, while also uncovering a past for Lebanon that predates modern history.
Told in episodic bursts across this immense timeline, we progress from an ancient seer to the father entering a fractured but energetic Beirut, to the horror of the Israeli bombardment as they seek revenge against the Palestine Liberation Organisation and others in a very complicated political landscape.
Ruins is a highly energetic and creatively told story that relies on the power of the actors and a few plastic boxes to relate their very personal experiences.
The stage is a surrounded by a simple backdrop (Cris Baldwin) that when combined with video projection (Laura Turner), can transform from a busy Beirut street to a night club, to an up market hotel or a hospital ward, all aided by imagination and a few plastic boxes used in rapid fire re-settings.
One memorable scene is that when the father visits a nightclub, driven by alcohol, cigarettes and the music of Blondie and Prince while the destruction is happening outside.
A re-assembly off the boxes and we transform to a taxi for what is a memorable drive through the streets, while in another taxi ride gunmen attempt to extort the passenger, or worse.
Props such as a door become portals between reality and the unreal, while sheets become shrouds or a screen for a silhouette of a medical procedure.
All of the scenes and transitions are given a sense of forward momentum by the constantly fluid movement of the actors, which are brilliantly choreographed, aided by lighting (Frankie Clarke) and music from Johnny Yang.
On the night live music from flautist Jessica Scottt was performed side-stage, while we had a somewhat muddled voice over from Olive Magee.
As director Ayoub is in command of the stage and characters at all times, even though in this essentially ensemble work some of the actors do not manage to rise with the rest of the cast.
There is also a problem with the important first scene in that the use of surtitles detracts from any engagement with the female spirit guide, along with the scene also running too long.
This is a beautiful looking production that shows immense flourishes of creativity as it tells a number of powerful personal and imagined stories by a dedicated cast that resonate even deeper with the current political situations around the world.
Ruins
Reginald Theatre – Seymour Centre, Corner City Road and Cleveland Street, Chippendale (Sydney)
Performance: Saturday 27 September 2025
Season continues to 18 October 2025
Bookings: www.seymourcentre.com
Wollondilly Performing Arts Centre, Menangle Street, Picton
Season: 24 – 25 October 2025
Bookings: www.wollondillypac.com.au
For more information, visit: www.clockfiretheatre.com for details.
Images: The Cast of Ruins – photos by Geoff Maggee
Review: John Moyle