Michael Griffith’s psychological thriller ‘The Magnolia Tree’ is coming to Geelong this month
Subscribe
X

Subscribe to Forte Magazine

03.05.2021

Michael Griffith’s psychological thriller ‘The Magnolia Tree’ is coming to Geelong this month

The Potato Shed presents an Australian thriller with a twist…

Capturing the imagination of audiences since its initial production at La Mama in 2017, the powerful psychological thriller play The Magnolia Tree is making its way to Geelong this May, promising to be an evening the audience won’t forget.

The key takeaways

  • The Magnolia Tree heads to The Potato Shed this May
  • Michael Griffith’s brilliant and relatable story challenges societal views on ageing parents with mental illness
  • There are two endings, and the audience vote decides for the powerful ending they collectively choose

Keep up with the latest in local entertainment via our website.

Written by playwright Michael Griffith, The Magnolia Tree centres around three disconnected siblings – Jack (Ezra Bix), Vicki (Tottie Goldsmith) and Deb (Rohana Hayes) – who have come together to choose a nursing home for their mother, who is suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s and has been largely unresponsive for eleven years.

A striking character-driven play placing questions surrounding palliative care and euthanasia at the fore, Jack, for unclear reasons, attempts to talk his sisters into letting her go that night.

This ingenious script shocks and confounds, inviting the audience to family secrets, fractured relationships and confessions. Personal boundaries are crossed, leaving the three siblings with an impossible bind.

But there’s an even greater twist to this gripping psychological thriller: every night there are two endings and it’s you, the audience, who decides what happens at a crucial point.

What would you do? Place a parent in a nursing home or help them end their suffering? Would you have the strength to be an accomplice in ending a life? And on a deeper level, it begs the question: should euthanasia should be legalised in Australia?

It’s a deliciously dangerous twist that you will be talking about for days.

“Michael Griffiths has written a play that will cast your morality adrift in an exercise of humanity. Combining moments of black humour and powerful emotion you will be forced to answer,” write Nigel Hawkins from InReview.

This one is a must-see for anyone who thrives on watching dilemmas and tensions unfold.

The Magnolia Tree will show at The Potato Shed in Drysdale 8pm on Friday, May 14. You can book your tickets here.