Ad Astra end their 2024 season with a poignant and thought-provoking drama asking big questions about life, death, and the space in between. Written by American novelist and playwright Don DeLillo, who also directed the 2005 premiere production at Boise Contemporary Theater, Love Lies Bleeding grapples with the contentious question of euthanasia and end-of-life care from the perspective of a family that is divided over the decision.
An artist working on a large-scale projects in a remote desert location, Alex Macklin suffered a catastrophic stroke that left him in a permanent vegetative state. His (fourth) wife Lia has cared for him in this state for 7 months, and now Alex’s second wife Toinette and his son Sean have arrived on their doorstep with a questionable bottle of morphine to convince her that euthanasia would be the kindest decision for Alex.
Brought together in the isolated house in the desert, Sean and his stepmothers argue and reminisce. Alex is shown to be a complex man, remembered differently by each of them. Sean and Lia both deliver eulogic monologues about him, but also about perspectives and what it is to know someone. Toinette laments the young woman she was when she married Alex, but Lia doesn’t see herself as “the younger woman”. Sean is determined to learn everything he can about his father, and he mostly does this through conversations with Toinette.
Ad Astra’s production of Love Lies Bleeding is directed by Michael Futcher, with Assistant Director Tom Pocilujko. There is an excellent tension and strong comedic timing throughout the show, especially as the characters waited for the morphine to take effect. Love Lies Bleeding is often pithy and occasionally poetic, with sharp edges of emotion, dark humour, and quick wit, especially from the character of Toinette. The second half of the play opened with several scenes between Toinette and Alex, although this did not meaningfully deepen the audience’s understanding of their relationship.
It was unclear why Toinette and Sean, specifically, were invested in Alex’s death, or why Lia eventually changed her stance. As the play progressed it became evident that Alex had attempted to communicate his wishes after his first, more minor, stroke, but his loved one did not want to face the idea of his death. As a result, they were caught between their own wishes and what they imagined his wishes might be.
John Stibbard and Greg Gesch both played the role of Alex Macklin: Stibbard played the earlier version of Alex, as he was recollected by his loved ones, while Gesch played Alex in Extremis, bringing presence to the character even as he lay motionless in an armchair.
Helen Howard was outstanding as the exasperated and sharp-tongued Toinette, and Carla Haynes played the more steadfast and level-headed Lia. Spencer Cliff played Alex’s son Sean, who takes an antagonistic approach to changing Lia’s mind and regurgitates facts and figures to make his point. Cliff stared searchingly into the audience as he delivered his eulogy, and his character’s matter-of-fact practicality was belied by the emotional monologue he delivered alone with his father, and in his reaction to Alex’s eventual death.
Lighting design by Madelyne Leite suggested desert sunsets and moonlight, with a blank backdrop serving as an endless horizon and the canvas for the lighting. Set and costume design by Ada Lukin built a framework of Alex’s home in the desert, with sand swept around the base, and compositions by Zachary Miezio also evoked the desert surroundings with the hum of evenings and chirping crickets.
Once again, Ad Astra end their year with a poignant meditation on what it means to be alive (or not), as well as a conversation starter about medical autonomy and assisted dying.
Love Lies Bleeding will be performed at Ad Astra, Fortitude Valley, from 31 October – 23 November 2024
For further information, visit the Ad Astra website
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