Fairly Lucid Productions from Australia and the UK present MEMBER, a U.S. Premiere one person play written and performed by Ben Noble, directed by David Wood, with music composed and performed by Stephen Choi running at the 2025 San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) May 8-11, 2025.
MEMBER is a creatively complex and searingly moving tale of a father and son, embroiled in homophobia and the brutality of a gang targeting gay men. In Sydney, Australia hate crimes against gay men were rife during the 1970s through to the 1990s and Noble’s seventy minute play delves into such deep hatred and prejudice, with his own courageous crafting, a will to push boundaries and his expert storytelling.
Sitting in a chair onstage Noble gently starts the story. He is an imposing presence, wearing a red and black shirt and jeans, he retells what’s happening and what led up to his son’s daunting situation. The setting is ominous, a hospital waiting room, that is created so effectively and minimally by a blue curtain centre stage, with heartbeat pulsating sound effects and live music played onstage by musician Stephen Choi in blue scrubs.
Noble, as the personable father recounts memories of his relationship with his son. We meet several characters and hear about their jobs or quirks as the stories are woven in MEMBER seamlessly by Noble. Thirteen characters take focus and appear, sometimes once only but some come back again through the story. Noble’s character, the father is a supervisor who takes his job seriously, exemplified when he apprehends Ernie with salty language. There’s Butterworth who likes cookies and Bob who talks to Ernie about going gay clubbing…
Noble is adept at switching characters with his voice, posture, facial expressions and gestures integrating humor and equal amounts of drama and pathos.
In a tender scene at his son’s birth – Noble’s performance is poignant and riveting going from banal to emotive in twenty seconds! Throughout the play there are several lump in the throat moments as well as brashness and anger – a notable contrast is Noble’s scenes as the father with his wife Cheryl. These scenes and dialogue draw on her husband’s gentle demeanor and a warm relationship, which adds depth to this story in between the homophobic brutality and the young son’s salubrious invitation to ride in a car up the hill with a stranger.
Light changes create new shape to the stage, together with location and mood effectively and the live music adds texture to the setting, although the first riffs would benefit from a lower volume.
MEMBER is supported by an impressive group of creative artists including both Ben Noble, a queer disabled actor, writer, creative producer and teacher & Sarah Ranken who run independent theatre company Fairly Lucid Productions in Melbourne, Australia; David Wood, director, facilitator and theatre-maker; Ro Bright, a kiwi writer based in Australia; Meg Courtney, Script Assessor; Björn Deigner a German writer, director and composer for theatre; Dan Giovannoni, playwright; Elise Esther Hearst, a Melbourne-based playwright and author; and playwright Finegan Kruckeymeyer.
Highly Recommended!
More information and Tickets:
Date(s) & Time(s): Thu May 8 – Fri May 9, 7:00pm, Sat May 10, 6:30pm, Sun May 11, 2:30pm
Duration: 70 minutes (No Intermission)
Venue: The Marsh Studio
Venue: 1062 Valencia St, SF, CA 94110
The SFIAF runs from April 30 to May 11, 2025 and presents 50 companies and 100 concerts and shows in this year’s festival, including theatre, music, spoken word, dance and much more!
