Lilli Margaret
Photo by Andrew McGee
Long Ride Home, written and directed by Jack McGee and produced by Squash Co. Arts Collective tells a simple story of two siblings who are struggling to connect. This is a new piece of writing from McGee, and it has great potential with a little bit of finessing to have a stellar second season.
As we file into Tapere Iti at Te Auaha, two bikes stand onstage facing the audience, with a gentle spotlight highlighting the distance between them. This is a lovely foreshadowing for the challenging interactions to come between David (Dylan Hutton) and Kate (Anna Barker), our two protagonists. And what a unique choice these bikes are! David and Kate travel across land, uphill and down roads, on “trainer” bikes which stand stationary while their wheels spin with exertion. The gentle hum of the wheels spinning while the pair rode in silence, unsure what to say to one another, gave an awkward ambience. This is a great choice by the team to demonstrate movement.
Sound design by Esteban Jaramillo is stripped back and minimal, bringing focus onto the two characters. There is little noise during the first half – the addition of more naturalistic outdoorsy sounds, or street sounds, could have helped create a more immersive atmosphere for audience members. David has arrived back in New Zealand to see his Nan, but when they finally “arrive” the music is loud and more like a house party than a family event- for me, something was lost in translation here unless Nan likes to rave! During this family party, both actors leave the stage and there’s what feels like a sudden mini-intermission – lights are still low, house party music is playing, and eventually, after some time David and Kate come back in with a change of outfit. It is not immediately clear whether these are two different characters, whether time has elapsed, or why they are wearing something different. Further utilisation of soundscape to demonstrate location, mood and and the passage of time would be a useful consideration in a future season.
By the end of the show, I feel I know David and Kate well, thanks to the mahi of actors Hutton and Barker. They both are, in their own ways, difficult, fragile, fallible, toxic, loving, insecure, and, ultimately, unhappy. At times, I want to shake sense into David, commiserate with Kate, and lecture them both on the importance of active listening. This is the joy of McGee’s script. While the script can do with some finer touches – some dialogue did not sound as naturalistic as it could have – and some points where emotions were expressed or when characters spoke around gender roles were perhaps more laboured than necessary – the writing has excellent bones.
I really like this show. Complex characters, tick. Engaging storyline, tick. I just want there to be more of it. I could have watched the story of these two characters for hours. As the lights come up and the audience clap, I am caught off guard by what feels like a sudden ending. I want closure. I want to know whether, years later, something shifted for the two of them again. However, as a person who has deep seated opinions around the importance of siblings – having lost my older brother 9 years ago, and having nearly lost my younger brother a month ago – perhaps this is more a reflection on my own complicated messy feelings about family, and how hard it is to make decisions which feel so infinite. Throughout this play, I catch myself leaning in, gasping at the audacity of David, wincing at cold Kate rebuffing her brother’s attempts at affection, and utterly transfixed by the story. The conversation between the two characters, jumping naturally between topics, lingering just long enough on certain memories or people to give an undertone of discomfort, is a testament to McGee’s writing.
Long Ride Home is on at Te Auaha from 2 – 5 August 2023, at 7pm. Tickets are available here: