Spurboard
Nick Enright

Currency Press 2001

102p pbk $14.95

0-86819-643-6

Spurboard is set in a place called Burradin in rural outback Australia. The play is centred around two brothers Greg and Mitchell Kellaway. They join the rodeo circuit and Mitchell is badly injured and becomes wheelchair bound. Although Greg gets the opportunity to go to Canada as a rodeo rider he turns it down to stay in Burradin. When Mitchell had his accident it makes everyone aware of the fact they are not invincible and need to take responsibility for their actions.

This is a dramatic play. Perhaps if I were older I would relate more to the pressures of leaving school and making life decisions, of tragedies and difficult relationships. The storyline was good but overshadowed by the use of excessive swearing. Swearing is used simply to appeal to young people but I found it at times to be over the top. I did find the play easy to read and wanted to find out what happened next. At no stage did I actually see a "spurboard" or was it ever really explained what it was. The play itself was easy to read and well set out clearly indicating who were speaking and scene settings.

I find it difficult to decide if to recommend this play or not. I think it is more suitable for an older age group, although I was able to follow the story line I found it difficult to relate to. I could feel the emotions that I was intended to feel but it all seemed a bit unreal to me perhaps too dramatic. The play seemed to cram a lot into a short story that spanned over several years, touching on many controversial subjects for example, abuse, neglect, sexuality, economics and family pressures. Perhaps at the end of the day I am left feeling I don't really know what it is like to live in rural Australia but I can't help thinking its not as rough as it is portrayed in this play.