[THEATRE REVIEW] TRUTH TO POWER CAFE @ Theatre Works Review (2025)
Live theatre can throw up curve balls, but this – the 61st iteration of Truth to Power Café globally and its Melbourne premiere – significantly deviated from the script.
Some might say it became a train wreck, as a number of the community participants called out the show’s creator for his alleged insensitivity.
As a result, what were already compelling first-hand accounts of bias became unmissable.
One of the accusations was that the storytelling that preceded the community participation was too ableist.
Let me provide you with some context as to what Truth to Power Café is all about.
In a nutshell, it is truth-telling in response to the question who has power over you and what do you want to say to them?
The first half hour is given over to writer, performer and activist Jeremy Goldstein.
Starting with poetry and through memoir, photography, film and music, he tells his story.
It saw him fall out with his father, only to reconnect with him after he died in 2012.
Truth to Power Café is inspired by the political and philosophical beliefs of Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter and his inner Jewish circle.
The latter was known as “The Hackney Gang” and included Jeremy’s late father, Mick Goldstein and Henry Woolf.
British poet, actor and director Woolf, footage of whom is played in between Jeremy’s monologue, passed away in November 2021.
Opening up about trauma can lead to empowerment.
It is regarded as a non-violent means of conflict resolution, the origins of which lie in the anti-war movement.
Once Jeremy had spoken his truth, he handed the microphone to a succession of gay, trans and disabled speakers and advocates.
The power in their words was enormous. They shared the indignities and pain they had suffered and let us know where they were at now.
What has power over Mama Alto is the tyranny of the normal. She says “minoritisers prevent us from loving ourselves and each other”.
She maintains that “nobody is normal – everyone is different”.
Andy Porter talked about a mortifying experience in the Fitzroy Gardens when he was in his mid 20s that landed him with a criminal record. It is something he is still fighting to expunge decades later, at the same time documenting his journey.
Tara Burnett is a trans person and public school teacher running for political office. She said landlords, including hers, who owns the building where she lives, hold all the power.
Tiger Salmon revealed details of the creepy priests who compromised her upbringing in Ballarat.
Wheelchair bound Jax Brown OAM now wears his disability with pride, but it wasn’t always so. He denounced special schools and the physiotherapist that tried to push his body into a version of straightness and hurt him at age six.
Sixty-year-old Brenton Geyer dedicated his commentary to the late Marianne Faithfull and said he followed in her footsteps, taking to vice like a duck to water. Referring to drugs and drink, he spoke of addictions that won’t let go.
Leisa Prowd is the average height of a six-year-old and referenced the judgment and questioning that comes with her 117-centimetre frame. These are often intrusive queries that would not be posed to an average sized adult.
She also told of the heartbreak of losing two of her four children when they were in their 30s.
Finally, Justine Morris opened up about the horrible smell emanating from her former stepfather’s home and the treatment she received from him.
It left her scared and mentally scarred, but now, a decade on, she is releasing the fear he imbued in her.
Truth to Power Café is often raw and unfiltered. As such, as difficult as some of it is to listen to, it reaches into your soul.
I found it a challenging and emotional experience. I felt sorrow, pity and shame.
I tried to imagine what it would be like if I was part of the oppressed and targeted minorities upon which the offering focuses.
I attempted to put myself into their shoes. What would I do? How would, could and should I react to mistreatment?
When it came to processing the unexpected, namely the unscripted, dagger to the heart vitriol, it simply said to me that we can all always do better. Directed by Jen Heyes, Truth to Power Café – which runs for 90 minutes without interval – is on at Theatre Works until 6th February, 2025.
Review by Alex First