The epic Lizzie Loveridge saw once and wished she could see again, is making a brief appearance at the Harvey Theater in Brooklyn as part of the Australian New Wave Festival (from 10/02/01-10/06/01). While I was unable to take Lizzie's advice to see Cloudstreet until the final performance, but I hope other New Yorkers took advantage to experience this production. Director Neil Armfield told London audience on September 11th that the events of that day would not affect Company B Belvoir's taking the play to BAM in New York and the Kennedy Center in DC, rightly expressing the belief that its life-giving quality and themes of togetherness and sense of place and belonging would resonate more strongly than ever with American audiences. Cloudstreet has played to a full house all week and the five hour production (including a 20-minute intermission and a 45-minute dinner break during which the audience was allowed to picnic in their seats) ended to numerous thunderous rounds of applause.

While I generally am not enamored of plays calling for grown-up actors to play children, the actors called upon to do so here did it so well that all my usual reservations vanished. If there were times when a little less of Dan Wyllie as Fish Lamb, the Lamb's brightest child transformed into a perpetual child, would have helped to cut down on some of the slow spots, these moments were offset by the imaginative staging and the sense of EVENT surrounding so many BAM productions and this one in particular. From re-reading Lizzie's review, all the physical elements she found so enchanting have been transferred to the stage of the Harvey Theater. With the aisles put to good use, even more lucky aisle sitters nabbed those free cups of ice cream distributed by the entrepreneurial Lamb daughters. Unfortunately, the Harvey sound system did little to help American ears acclimate themselves to the thick Australian accents.

The ensemble of 14 actors continue to play their forty parts with amazing versatility and depth. I was particularly smitten with the boozy-voiced Kris McQuade whose Dolly Pickle believably evolves into something more than a slatternly, neglectful wife and mother. She also gets some of the best lines, like her description of the house shared by her family with the Lambs: "It's like a house that had a stroke and was left paralyzed on one side." It would be wonderful to have her re-visit America as one of Tennesse Williams' heroines.

Even without the special resonance of the Australian visit to our shores at this particular time, Cloudstreet, underscores the similarities between our countries. Its poetic simplicity and the superb performances make mention of the too-overdone patches seem like inconsequential quibbles. If you missed the play in London and in Brooklyn, there's still DC to catch up with it. -- Elyse Sommer