The Bleeding Tree

by Angus Cerini

‘Girls, I think your father's dead. I knocked his knees out. I conked his head. I shot that house clown in the neck.’

In a dirt-dry town in rural Australia, a shot shatters the still night. A mother and her daughters have just welcomed home the man of the house—with a crack in the shins and a bullet in the neck. The only issue now is disposing of the body.

Triggered into thrilling motion by an act of revenge, The Bleeding Tree is rude, rhythmical and irreverently funny. Imagine a murder ballad blown up for the stage, set against a deceptively deadly Aussie backdrop, with three fierce females fighting back.

Genres: Plays

42 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2015

Reviews

[notgettingenough · Rating 5 out of 5]

More on this here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... as by coincidence, reading/seeing both these over a few days, it is obvious that Loving Roger by Tim Parks and The Bleeding Tree go together.

There is a nice review here. Cerini's script is riveting and clever and it's poetry and it manages to be humorous in a way I'm reluctant to call black because I don't think black and pain go together.

To quote Limelight's review: 'The Bleeding Tree...has the cadence of a ballad and the narrative audacity and guignol of a Coen Brothers film. Poetic, macabre, tender and funny, it explores the subterfuge and complexities of domestic violence more urgently and powerfully than naturalistic theatre can.' Well said.

It's strange but true that truth may be best exposed in a relatively artificial structure.

Other links worth exploring in regard to this splendid play:

https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/maga...

A couple of months ago Hugo Weaving starred in the latest play by Cerini: Wonnangatta. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-2...

The script is available in book form here: https://australianplays.org/script/CP...

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just wondering, but do you know any men you'd like to shoot dead and then hang up to be messily eaten by rats, chickens and dogs, while you watched every glorious minute of it and were told by your nice neighbors that he had it coming, can they help?

Hey, I had him in mind too! Think of the odds!

[Carlo Hengstler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be wonderful in performance, it's a bit confusing to just read it as a script as the lines aren't shown as associated to the character who speaks them. REGARDLESS! The actual story of the play is weirdly cathartic whether you are a male or female reader, interestingly so though... I question my morals in finding catharsis from this. No matter, more power to women being powerful in art - I'm not complaining.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooh that was satisfying in a totally disgusting way.

[kiara skene · Rating 4 out of 5]

would loooove to see a moving read/performance of this because the storytelling would be a lot clearer and more dynamic on it’s feet. very strong writing