Author Grace Pundyk’s new play Steppe (a journey of unforgetting), directed by The Impending Room’s Cathy Hunt, is an unsettling, tense and personal look back at a dark part of humanity’s past.
The play follows the forced migration of Kasia, a Polish woman portrayed by three different actors (Nisha Joseph, Laura Jane Turner and Anna Kennedy). After the Soviet invasion of Poland during World War II, Kasia is marched along the freezing Trans-Siberian Railway to an isolated labour camp. Steppe is loosely based on three letters written by Pundyk’s grandmother to her grandfather, and it breathes life back into her words as Pundyk weaves poetically between fact and fiction.
Joseph, Turner and Kennedy each give visceral performances, embodying different parts of Kasia’s character, as well as Soviet officers and other prisoners. They navigate time and space in a dreamlike fashion, as passages from each of the letters are repeated and reinterpreted. The choice to portray Kasia as a trinity of identities allows for a deeper exploration of the contrast between the pain and suffering she endures and the eternal longing and love she has for her husband, Josef, and their son, Bernard.
Staged in the claustrophobic space of a train carriage in the Newport Rail Yards, Steppe isolates the audience from the outside world. It is unnerving to sit so close to this woman in despair, to have her staring at you as she pleads for water or clothes, and there is a strong desire to help her.
Each part of Kasia – her happiness, her helplessness, her panic – is made palpably real through the somewhat musical rhythm created by the actors. Through Hunt’s strong direction, the play builds to an almost unbearable pace. At times, certain details are lost in the fray: it is not always clear where and when Kasia is, or even what is occurring onstage. However, it scarcely detracts from Pundyk’s vision. The play does not conform to a linear path but is a spiritual odyssey which will touch each audience member in a different way.
While it may appear to be a window to the past, somewhat obscured by its unconventional structure, Steppe also represents a uncompromising mirror which compels you to look at humanity’s reflection and our many imperfections.
Steppe is on at the Newport Rail Yards, Shea Street, from 17-19 and 24-26 September with evening shows at 7 pm and two Saturday matinees at 2 pm. For more information or to book tickets, please visit the Melbourne Fringe website or call the ticketing team on 9660 9666.
