The Trouble with Harry

Kate Young
21st Feb 2017

When police found the charred remains of Annie Birkett’s body, they treat it as a suicide, for there were no visible markings to suggest that violence had been the cause. This however did not deter tongues from wagging as folks questioned how the young woman met such a fate. In the end though it would not be the victim herself that would give the case its found notoriety, but her transgender husband, Harry Crawford, whose secret was eventually exposed and would lead to him being caught and convicted of her murder.

The Trouble with Harry sets out to tell the extraordinary story of Harry Crawford, otherwise known as Eugenia “Lena” Falleni, who was legally born a female. As a teenager, Eugenia started dressing as a man, and though shunned by his family took a job working at sea, until the captain discovered his identity. He was brutally raped until he was offloaded in Newcastle. Pregnant and alone Harry made his way to Sydney, where he gave birth to a daughter Josephine. Believing it wa the best possible chance for his daughter, Crawford gave her up to a childless family. It was after these horrific turns of events that Felleni’s adult life would start to take shape and she began living his new life as Harry Crawford.

Written by Lachlan Philpott and directed by Kate Gaul, the play presents a harrowing portrayal of Australian life in an era that was eager to leave the hardships of the war behind. A time when men were men and traditional social family structures where sacred. It also explores the elaborate lie that Fellini/Crawford lived as a transgender male in a time when "transgender" was unheard of.

Philpott’s script is elegantly written. The story is primarily told through chorus as a Man (Thomas Cambell) and Woman (Niki Owen) take to the stage, acting like the narrators of a Greek tragedy, utilising poetry, as well as excerpts from newspapers and documents used in the case to explain the facts known. They also play other roles such as the gossiping neighbours who whisper behind closed doors, interweaving the he-said-she-said into the story. The speech at times overlaps and intertwines with that of the actors, immersing the audience into a complex web of truths.

The set, though minimalistic, is cleverly thought out and executed. A raised rough wooden platform containing two rails of gauzy drapes act as our passage into this world presented before us. The drapes enable for quick scene changes but it is the metaphorical idea behind them that truly had me captured. Through the flimsy curtains we were given a voyeuristic view into the life of what seemed to be any other married couple but as the drapes were push and pulled, doors were closed and truths were distorted. It was almost like having a veil pulled over our eyes.

The stage itself was a clever concept, using a thrust stage to tell Crawford’s story. With gallery seating set up on three sides of the stage it was reminiscent of a courtroom drama. Creating a similar sensation that Crawford must have felt, always being judged and persecuted. It’s also clever because it allows each audience member a unique perspective of what’s going on onstage. Since the audience surrounds the stage, audience members can see each other while watching the action on stage. This creates an interesting experience for spectators, seeing the reactions of the people on the other side of the stage and knowing they are seeing the show from the opposite viewpoint.

Jodie Le Vasconte is striking as Harry Crawfored. Her portrayal of masculinity and what it meant to be a man is as real as the character in which she portrays; Reserved emotions, and avoidant behavior, rugged good looks all wrapped up a boyish charm. Vasconte brings a beautiful tenderness to her performance and you can't help but agonise over Harry’s secret being found out.

Jane Phegan as Harry’s wife Annie Birkett plays a very multi-layered character; she is a tender and warm mother who is protective of her young son Thomas, and she is the loving doting hard working housewife who just wants to have everything perfect for when her “man” comes home. But on the flipside she is a woman who lives in fearm that the spiteful world could tear hers down at any moment.

Jonas Thompson plays her son Thomas Birkett, a naïve young man who is only looking for the good in people. There is a curious nature also about him as he boarders upon puberty and flirts with the notion of being a man. The relationship with his “father” is seen as strained, as they both have to deal with how one social and physically meets that expectation.

Harry’s daughter Josephine is chillingly played by Bobbie-Jean Henning as a troubled young women who is set to create waves in a storm that is already brewing. A vulnerable young girl on the quest for answers, who hides her abandonment and isolation issues through disdain. In the end it was Josephine’s tirades and bitter accusations that would start the rumour mills churning.

Many questions go unanswered: how was Harry able to hide his true gender identity from his wife all those years? Did Annie in fact know but choose to love and except her husband for the man that he was until the truth threatened to surface? Was Annie’s death purely an accident that out of fear tries to cover up or did he kill her in cold blood, terrified she would leave him and tell everyone about his true identity?

What we do know is the inordinate lengths Harry went through to live life as a male and there must have been this constant undercurrent of tension and of fear relating to the truth about his biological gender being found out. The Trouble with Harry examines gender and identity and the social constructs of the time that restricted Harry/ and forced him to live a life of fear.

This play is an important piece especially in a time where we as a society seem to be more open to understanding and accepting ideas of gender construction. We have come a long way when people like Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox can grace the covers of Vanity Fair and Time, but when the reality is that in 2016 a reported 27 (and that's only reported) transgendered people were murdered worldwide, it shows that the fear is still there on both sides brewing at an alarming rate. As dark as the play and subject matter is it still highlights just how important these issues are, no matter what century it is that we live in.

The Trouble with Harry is on at The Seymour Centre until Friday March 3rd. Production photos by Clare Hawley.