“Two people could be at the same event but they’ll have a different memory of it,” says actor Jack Finsterer.

He’s speaking ahead of his starring role in Griffin Theatre’s latest production, Replay – a story of brotherhood and family that explores the notion of memory decades after the traumatic death of a sibling, asking audiences to decide if it is possible to truly recall an event objectively.

“There are two brothers. I play the eldest,” Finsterer explains. “You meet them when they’re about 14 and 16. You meet them again decades later, post some big events.”

Finsterer’s character, Michael, has repressed the death of his brother John for years and is only now beginning to remember it, whereas his other sibling Peter seems to recall the experience as well, but differently. “We look at my memory of it and his memory of it, and how that has impacted on our roles in the family and how it has changed the past and the future,” says Finsterer.

Considering the thematic points of the piece, one has to assume that collective memory will also play a large part in the plot. After all, experience can so often be influenced by perspective, and sharing such a life-changing moment with another would significantly affect the recollection of the event, altering each person’s version of the truth.

“Yes, definitely,” agrees the actor. “Collective memory and the question of what is truth is all set in the context of a family, and families all have their own kind of rhythms, don’t they? Everybody has their own position and role within them. What happens when you reflect on that as a group, or a couple of brothers, and how does that affect your position within the family? Conceptually, it’s all about the family dynamic and how people remembering things together changes it. There’s a couple of big hooks in there that I can’t reveal.”

In plays with such a strong and complex narrative, simplicity in terms of set design and costume is usually paramount to keep the focus on the characters and story. Replay will follow suit.

“It’s at the Griffin so it’s always going to be pretty minimal,” Finsterer chuckles. “Plot is important in the play, and it is very character-driven. I think people have really strong reactions to it in some way because we’re delving into families, and whether you’re an only child or one of 20 kids, we all slot in there somehow. People shift and change, our roles change, we mature, events happen, and it deals with that milieu. It’s a rich territory for an audience to really relate to and be entertained by.”

Memory, time, family, truth: these are all themes that will ensure audience members engage with their experience as it goes beyond the realms of mere entertainment. “I think they’ll come away with something to think about in terms of their own lives, because of the nature of the material,” says Finsterer. “I also think that they’ll also have a laugh. There’s some very funny bits in the play as well as some really poignant ones where they’ll be asking what’s going on. The play really toes between those two things and can be quite bleak in some parts.”

In line with the direction of the play itself, audience members will be having a collective experience in a theatre, yet the plot is such that it could be interpreted in different ways. Finsterer ponders whether the truth of the past will be black and white by the end of the play, or if the shades of grey will leave audiences divided on what really happened.

“I think that will be really interesting, because we have an event and two characters talking about their versions of it and there’s nuance within that,” he says. “I’m absolutely certain that audiences members will be able to walk away saying, ‘This is how I responded’.

“Of course, we bring our own feelings to it. With any decision we make, and how we approach anything in life, our emotions are always a part of that – it’s never just a cerebral exercise, no matter how much some people may argue that you can just make a logical decision.

“There’s whole fields of research that suggest that emotion is a part of any decision. So if you’re walking into the theatre, I think whatever you carry with you will inform how you respond to this play – how you feel about your family, how you feel about yourself on any given day. All of that will inform how you feel when you walk out of the theatre.”

[Replay photo by Brett Boardman]

Griffin Theatre Company‘sReplayrunsSaturday April 2 – Saturday May 7at the SBW Stables Theatre.

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