I Am A Miracle features three separate stories echoing each other: the story of real-life Dutch general John Stedman in the 1770s, an ill man and his partner who feel trapped by each other, and an angel-like figure helplessly watching over prisoner Marvin Lee Wilson as he's about to be executed on death row.
Bert LaBonte has been on fire lately, and his performance here is no exception; his confusion and frustration as the ill man is tangible as he melts down, the rotating stage adding to the chaos. As the angel, he represents the earnest part of everyone who sees injustices happening day-in, day-out, and prays for change, a divine intervention, an uprising, to set the future straight. Melita Jurisic is also an unstoppable force, her depiction of Stedman theatrical and breathless — her words coming out lilting and hysterical, or choked with fear — contrasted with her turn as a partner turned carer at her wits' end. With direction from Malthouse's new Artistic Director Matthew Lutton, the actors' every phrase and every movement brims with meaning.
Playwright Declan Greene considers his new work a modern opera of sorts. Its set design is simple at first glance but throughout the course of the play feels more and more epic - it doesn't change much, but the one rearrangement is done in spectacular fashion, making stunning use of the stage curtain. Everything builds to a dramatic climax, aided by a biblical-sounding choral score from David Chisholm performed by award-winning operatic soprano Hana Lee Crisp with support from LaBonte and Jurisic: just chill-inducing. And the final scene will imprint itself in your mind. So, yes, this writer is inclined to agree the piece is indeed an operatic experience; it's rooted in reality but looks to the spiritual world, the miraculous.
