Anyone who has ever struggled to find out how their teenage son, their father or their brother actually feels underneath will understand the importance of Identity Theatre. Here is a theatre company that operates without a definite moral agenda, but with the aim of dissecting men’s issues in order to open up a dialogue about concerns such as depression, anxiety and self. These are matters that are often hidden behind some pretty well placed road blocks, and dismantling them is no easy task.
Nevertheless, this is exactly what founder Ray Swann has tried to do with this theatre company and with the aptly titled The Soul Miner, showing at the Malthouse this week. First staged in 2004 to critical acclaim, The Soul Miner is a one man show both written and performed by Swann. Set in the 1920s, it tells the story of a returned soldier who struggles to cope with the difficult memories of Gallipoli when he becomes trapped underground with a fellow-worker.