Brisbane review: Shock Jock v Wealthy Entrepreneur in Ian Callinan’s New Case

By Lilian Harrington

Production: The Turtle Towers Case

Playwright:  Ian Callinan

Company:   Bent Productions

Director:      Laraine Griffiths

Venue:        The New Benner Theatre, Metro Arts

Location:     97 Boundary St. (Factory Lane) West End

Season:       8-10 October, Evg. 7 30 pm and Mat 2 pm Sat 10^th.

Bookings:    Metro Arts  infor@metroarts.com.au or phone 07/3002 7100 ( 9 am -5pm)

Tucked away behind the Common and down Factory Lane in West End, is Metro Arts, where patrons can find The New Benner Theatre. It has become a key venue in Brisbane. for many new works to be performed. Bent Productions, under the direction of producer /director, Laraine Griffiths, has worked with local Australian writer Ian Callinan, a former High Court Justice turned writer, to present the premier season of his intriguing new play The Turtle Towers Case. Although he has written other thought- provoking plays before, once again he has focused on crime and resolving the case. Interestingly, there appears to be an upsurge of interest in court room dramas at present with TV programs which feature the jury room, or TV’s Julia Zimarra, investigating cases.

Ian Callinan’s play presents the viewers with a tension- filled Australian case. It is set in both the courtroom and the Jury room, with a jury of four. Each juror has his or her own story to tell and represents a particular character type. The tension rises and the stakes are high for all concerned, especially for the jury, who after all, are the “ultimate judges” in this case. At stake there’s the loss of: money, reputation, careers, and self -respect.  

Ian Callinan is a retired judge, so he is familiar with court room procedures and he writes with confidence and conviction, exploring ethical boundaries, and the ambitions of those involved, in an effort to find the truth. Over the years he has acted in many defamation cases himself, either working for the claimant or the defendant. In The Turtle Towers Case the audience is shown the courtroom and the private jury room, where everything is confidential; It’s a contest between the well -respected, powerful, entrepreneur, Sir Tom Driver (Matt Mc Neice) and the shock jock talkback, radio host, outspoken broadcaster, Ivan Block (Tye Shepherd), who like the Greens is on the side of the environment.

The director used a very simple set design to indicate the courtroom and divided the jury room with simple dining chairs, using basic lighting to highlight both spaces. She used dramatic license to change the traditional legal costumes, so the prosecutor Lanson QC (Michael Lawrence) wore blue robes, while defense attorney Reston QC (John Mann), wore green robes. This situation harked back to the 16^th C before the legals changed their costumes to black after the death of Queen Anne. Further, the jury were dressed as commoners from the community, however, one flamboyant juror Harold Briar (Sebastian Woulff) who played the political activist, was wearing cross gender costumes, which was an interesting choice as his student character didn’t indicate any reference to a different point of view. The judge in the Australian court might wear red or purple, but in this play Justice Newell (Paul Toolis), wore black.

Ian Callinan’s script is well-written, it touches on many hidden details; however, the stage action was presented differently from the gripping scenes seen in the TV series “The Twelve” nevertheless, strong performances were seen from Ivan Block (Tye Shepherd), and the four jurors, who provided a light relief from courtroom procedures.