Zander’s Boat

From writer Grace Barnes, Zander’s Boat is brought to life once again by actor and director Suzanne Haywood. The play recounts the tales of three women – Edith, Marie and Sylvia. They each take it in turns unravelling the mysteries of their life stories by confronting the isolation they are subjected to from their experiences of motherhood, marriage and loss. 

Zander’s Boat takes place at the Shetland Islands on the beachside. Sand covers the stage floor and the women move around logs, wooden buckets and seashells. When Edith, Marie and Sylvia speak to the audience it is like they are interacting with the sea, which is the only trusted confidant for them. 

The women never cross paths or interact throughout the performance, they instead move across the stage unaware of each other and alone. Edith – the eldest of the three – is hard and bitter, and struggles with motherhood now that her son Zander is grown. Marie is in her forties and has settled into a loveless and childless marriage with a man but dreams of someone else. And Sylvia, who is young and hopeful tries to save her new marriage with a child.

Their stories of Shetland reveal the place to be very out-dated and confining to the women, who feel the need to perform to their gender roles. Marie’s disinterest in having a child is considered a failing on her part just as well as Sylvia’s inability to have a child is. This patriarchal structuring affects even to the men of the play, Edith’s son and Sylvia’s husband who are both only mentioned, feel they cannot live up to what is expected of them.

The performances from Suzanne Heywood as Edith, Liza Meagher as Sylvia and Gabriella Rose-Carter as Marie are forceful and memorable, each digging up roots of their characters and delivering lines that read like poetry. The script flows and captivates. While certain phrases cause for a stumble, the ideas continually hit hard and straight and the depth the stories have to offer is immeasurable. 

While much in life has happened to these women, they each leave us with much more ahead of them. They come together in the end to build a figurative boat for Zander, but it is these women, so chained to their responsibilities and choices who long deepest for the sea.

Zander’s Boat
Q44 Theatre, Abbotsford Convent, Sacred Heart Building, 1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford
q44.com.au/zanders-boat