Sydney Reviews

Left – Robert Rhode and Barton Williams. Cover – Abi Rayment, Paul Armstrong, Barton Williams, Melissa Kathryn Rose, Robert Rhode, Eleni Schumacher. Photos – Phyllis Wong

Equality before the law is the principle which gives any legal system a claim to moral authority. Thus Thomas Fuller famously wrote of the English Common Law: ‘Be you never so high, the law is above you.’ But where exactly do we stand in relation to the law when government revokes its protections on grounds of national security?

In Dead Time, writer/director Fleur Beaupert tells the sad story of Gold Coast doctor Muhamed Haneef and his needless detention by Australian authorities for 25 days in 2007. Taking for its title the ‘dead time’ provisions in the Commonwealth Crimes Act which allowed the AFP to detain Haneef for so long without charge, this is a work of troubling historical drama.

Staged in the barren concrete interior of the 107 Projects Theatre, an earnest amateur cast reconstructs Haneef’s story from multiple perspectives. Interview transcripts, television media and political interviews are cleverly engaged to constantly shift our perspective throughout a largely engaging play.

In Dead Time, Haneef is very much a man in context. He is a husband, a father, a doctor, a muslim, a prisoner, a media story, and a political liability, but throughout he is mostly just himself: a person wronged. Robert Rhode is eloquent and humane as Haneef and is ably supported by the brooding Paul Armstrong as the combustible lawyer Peter Russo. Peter Tucker’s sound design is alarming and emphatic if somewhat abrasive and certainly too loud. The dialogue is clear and the story initially well managed, but at nearly two hours it feels exorbitantly long.

Haneef’s story is disturbing and shameful. From the historical record, it is hard to escape the conclusion that the thrice elected John Winston Howard, was the pragmatist behind Haneef’s detention all along. Philip Ruddock appears also to have fluffed Winston into his assertive twaddling before the national news-media. In the end, the Australian Commonwealth (tail firmly between legs) compensated Haneef an undisclosed sum. Winston on the other hand took the high-ground and refused to apologise. I can only assume this was in the interests of consistency – not wanting to tarnish his legacy of callous indifference with a final act of empathy, however small.


Lace Balloon Productions presents
Dead Time
by Fleur Beaupert

Directed by Fleur Beaupert

Venue: 107 Projects | 107 Redfern St, Redfern
Dates: 20 – 29 May 2015
Tickets: $25 – $20
Bookings: ww.trybooking.com/HHPB