Review – QTs At What Cost?: leaves the audience breathless

By Nahima Abraham

At What Cost?

Written by Nathan Maynard

Directed by Isaac Drandic

Presented by Belvoir St Theatre and Queensland Theatre

Merivale Street

West End

Booking: https://tickets.queenslandtheatre.com.au/ Season ends June 10.

Duration 1 hour 45 mins without interval

At What Cost ? is a powerful piece of theatre. It leaves the audience breathless, enthralled, and hungry for more like it. After its world premiere at Belvoir Theatre, and following a story swaddled in tragedy rivalling Shakespeare, At What Cost? is a play that everyone should be seeing right now. It tells the story of Palawa man Boyd who has been entrusted the solemn task of fireman to send off the remains of an ancestor who had been returned home after being held in an English museum for many years. What follows is unexpected yet real. We left this play in utter awe of the play we had just witnessed.

Luke Carroll’s Boyd stole the show as the principal character, a lot of the moving and shaking fell onto his broad and capable shoulders. Sandy Greenwood as Nala, Alex Malone as Gracie, and Ari Maza Long as cousin Daniel all had a part to play and each handled it spectacularly. This, as stressed by the speeches that happened on opening night, is a really important piece of theatre. And you can see why.

This play is humble. Featuring powerful actors, yes, but they are not relatively known to Brisbane circles. It was set in Tasmania, far away down the east coast. Yet everything felt so touching, so moving. This story moved as though it was happening to a friend or someone close. This is the power of fantastic storytelling. There was laughter, there were tears, there was heightened drama, and through all this there was heart, drawing audience into a tight embrace.

There are strong mentions of adult themes in At What Cost? Including themes of suicide and Aboriginal trauma. However, this is handled with sensitivity and dignity befitting the noble intentions of this play. While on the whole it was confronting, it is necessary to have discussions around these sorts of themes. At What Cost? is certainly a play that will last decades, until as Artistic Director Lee Lewis said, a time when we can call it ‘dated’.