Psychological thriller gives audience the choice

What would you do when faced with the ultimate question – would you let your mother go?

The Magnolia Tree, a new Australian drama written by Michael Griffiths, will be performed at the Potato Shed later this month and have audiences thinking the unthinkable.

When they were young, Jack and his sisters’ mother used to make decisions on their behalf.

Now their mother has advanced Alzheimer’s and is at the mercy of her three children, who come together to choose a suitable nursing home.

But not is all as it seems. Jack, for unclear reasons, will attempt to talk his sisters into letting their mother go – tonight. As the drama unfolds, the audience will be privy to family secrets, fractured relationships and confessions.

Personal boundaries are crossed, leaving the three siblings with an impossible bind.

This gripping psychological thriller has two endings – and the audience will have the power to vote for the end they want to witness.

The play stars Tottie Goldsmith, Ezra Bix and Rohana Hayes.

In his review, Melbourne Theatre Company’s Chris Mead said Griffiths “wrote without fear and yet with a keen sense of both heart and responsibility”.

“He has a good nose for story and a sharp sense of unrest and disquiet. There is enormous truth at the core of his work and he is relentless in his pursuit of it.”

Nigel Hawkins from InReview said the play “will cast your morality adrift in an exercise of humanity, combining moments of black humour and powerful emotion you will be forced to answer”.

The Magnolia Tree will be performed at the Potato Shed, Drysdale on May 14 at 8pm.