The Process

La Mama Theatre presents The Process, a black comedy about Australia’s ‘border protection’ policies.

Written and directed by Ian Robinson, the work follows the plight of recently arrived Tamil asylum seeker Rajoo Mahalingham (Ezekiel Day), through the intricacies of the Australian immigration system. Channelling political satire greats such as Catch 22, the play attempts to take the audience from comedy to tragedy but ultimately fails. The writing lacks nuance as the puntastic character names demonstrate; Mahalingham is first interviewed by immigration officer Kurt Stickler (Sean Scully), his lawyer is Hope Springsey (Jessica Muschamp) and his psychiatrist is Dr Maddison Attar (Jessica Muschamp). The laughs that these names extract from the audience devalue the production. Furthermore, the content is mostly dated, with events of the 2013 federal election holding focus. Ezekiel Day is excellent however, his performance of Mahalingham is raw and authentic, taking the audience with him as the system that he has been sucked into slowly forces him into a tragic and preventable madness.

The work deals with important and difficult subject matter and the cast and crew are to be congratulated for attempting such an endeavour. However, the execution is sadly lacking. The production ultimately preaches instead of educates and while there are some powerful moments, these occur despite the writing instead of because of it.

La Mama Theatre to 15 Feb