Fig Trees

Filmmaker John Greyson and singer-composer David Wall’s video opera Fig Trees is a challenging and complex construction. It is at once a hymn to activists, a history lesson, an investigation into Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson's opera Four Saints in Three Acts, each playing a counterpoint in a post-modern but exact composition with the rigour of Bach. The key focus is on Tim McCaskell a pioneer Aids activist in Canada, and Zackie Achmat who made international headlines with his refusal to take anti-retroviral drugs until they were made generally available in South Africa. The operatic singing highlights the parallel struggles of individuals in battling pharmaceutical giants and governments in the face of Aids. This is a retelling of recent history, set against older queer history and a meditation on contemporary sainthood. It is polemical but beautiful, informative and lyrical, one of the most original works in this year's Festival.
Brian Robinson