As We Forgive - Drama Critique
On Saturday the 16th of March I saw Tasmania Performs production of As We Forgive: Three Morality Plays For An Amoral Age. Performed in the Theatre Royal Backspace, Hobart, As We Forgive is a one-act, one-man show, featuring Robert Jarman. Written by Tom Holloway and directed by Julian Meyrick, the production was presented by Tasmania Performs as part of Ten Days on the Island and Tasmania’s International Arts Festival.
“The evidence of our violence is everywhere we turn... murder, suspicion, treachery, destruction... so how can I sit here in front of you and claim people... all of us... are fundamentally good?” - Excerpt from As We Forgive - Vengeance
As We Forgive is a poignant investigation of contemporary morality, particularly the themes of vengeance, hatred and forgiveness. The play explores these themes through three monologues, all performed by Robert Jarman, and each representing the stories of three different men. The first monologue, which explores the theme of vengeance, represents an elderly man who has been attacked in his home, and who seeks revenge against his attacker for violating his safe haven. The second story, examining hatred, follows a middle-aged man, who describes the relationship between an abusive father and his son. This character presents the story in the third person, as an outside observer, although it is revealed at the end of the monologue that the observations are actually his personal experiences, and that the hatred the character discusses refers to his own feelings towards his father. Finally, the play examines the concept of forgiveness through a man who, after feeling responsible for the death of his children in a car accident, comes to forgive himself. In discussing these three themes, the play aims to provide insight into contemporary understandings of morality and how it affects human emotions and behaviour.
As We Forgive is a one-man play, separated into three different monologues and characters. Jarman
“The evidence of our violence is everywhere we turn... murder, suspicion, treachery, destruction... so how can I sit here in front of you and claim people... all of us... are fundamentally good?” - Excerpt from As We Forgive - Vengeance
As We Forgive is a poignant investigation of contemporary morality, particularly the themes of vengeance, hatred and forgiveness. The play explores these themes through three monologues, all performed by Robert Jarman, and each representing the stories of three different men. The first monologue, which explores the theme of vengeance, represents an elderly man who has been attacked in his home, and who seeks revenge against his attacker for violating his safe haven. The second story, examining hatred, follows a middle-aged man, who describes the relationship between an abusive father and his son. This character presents the story in the third person, as an outside observer, although it is revealed at the end of the monologue that the observations are actually his personal experiences, and that the hatred the character discusses refers to his own feelings towards his father. Finally, the play examines the concept of forgiveness through a man who, after feeling responsible for the death of his children in a car accident, comes to forgive himself. In discussing these three themes, the play aims to provide insight into contemporary understandings of morality and how it affects human emotions and behaviour.
As We Forgive is a one-man play, separated into three different monologues and characters. Jarman