Featured image – Cast of This Much Is True. Pic by John Marmaras.

With his latest trilogy complete, Louis Nowra has shown himself to be a very fine exponent of the ‘Memory Play’, a phrase coined by the great American dramatist Tennessee Williams. Williams most famous memory play was his exquisite drama, The Glass Menagerie, depicting the troubled life of his beloved sister.

The term describes an autobiographical play in which the playwright steps to one side and narrates the action whilst observing him or herself as a young person going through what he/she went through whilst being the main character, the protagonist, in the play.

In the first play of the trilogy, SUMMER OF THE ALIENS, we see Nowra looking back at his experiences as a sensitive teenager growing up in suburban Melbourne. In COSI we see the playwright reliving the time in his early twenties when he directed a group of interned psych patients performing their production of Mozart’s classic opera, Cosi FanTutte.

Now with THIS MUCH IS TRUE, the final play in his trilogy, we see Nowra writing about the experiences he has had, and the characters he has engaged with, in the times that he has spent at this local drinking hole, the Old Fitzroy Hotel which he fictionalises as The Rising Sun, doubtless a nod to the classic blues song House Of The Rising Sun.

I enjoyed THIS MUCH IS TRUE. The storyline did not have the intricacy of the other two works.  The  play’s strength is in how poignantly Nowra brings to life these pub characters who have touched his life.

The performances are excellent. Septimus Caton gave an accomplished performance, stepping into Nowra’s shoes. Danny Adcock, as always, gave a strong performance as ‘The Fixer’, Cass. Martin Jacobs played manic meth chemist Clarrie.

Joanne Dowling played the very down to earth, gives as good as she gets barmaid Gretel.

Justin  Stewart Cotta was a force of nature as transexual Venus who has a costume change fairly much every time she comes on stage.

Alan Dukes played struggling debt collector Malcolm who is always bludging a drink off Gretel. In scenes reminiscent of another trilogy, The Boyce Trilogy, his character ends us heaving Rhys, played by Robin Goldsworthy, who flees the group after fleecing money from most of them.

My favourite scene of the play is when Lewis visits Venus who is ailing at home. Venus tells him of his dread of death. She tells Lewis that the worst thing about death is not so much the physical demise but that the special memories one has also die.

We are very fortunate to have writers of the quality of Nowra around who can so poignantly capture his memories and his favourite characters and share them with theatregoers.

In a lovely touch at the end, often used in cinema, Lewis tells us briefly how all his characters ended up as Rhys and Lewis look on. The memory play complete. Finis.

This much is true…Some of the characters Nowra has brought to the stage will live long in the memory. Nowra’s latest is playing the Old Fitz until August 12.