Heart Lines - Melville Theatre Company
- Kate O'Sullivan
- Jul 14
- 3 min read
Reviewed by Kate O'Sullivan
Kerry Bowden’s Heart Lines, recently remounted at Melville Theatre, is a heartfelt patchwork of interconnected lives, woven together through a series of short scenes and direct-to-audience monologues. Spanning just over an hour, the show touches on themes of connection, memory, and grief, exploring the ordinary and extraordinary moments that shape lives.
Structurally, Heart Lines blends vignettes from a share-house past with monologues from the present — a storytelling approach that, when balanced well, creates intimacy and reflection. The use of lighting to delineate these two worlds is a clever and effective device: a warmer light on Noah (Nick Stevenson) during his video blog-style monologues, separating us from the flashback scenes, which pop with a brighter, fluorescent light, capturing the joy and chaos of communal living. This is then contrasted again with other scenes where colour is used to delineate even further, and to show us the different 'Lines' that come together at the end of the show.
There is great potential in this format, and there are moments where the production truly shines — like the dance lesson scene, which offers a buoyant, funny, and familiar energy from all the performers. It’s in these lighter beats that we glimpse how much more contrast the show could benefit from. A greater lift in energy during the happier moments would provide more room for the emotional weight of the later scenes to land with impact. At present, the emotional curve feels too even; the stakes of a pivotal moment late in the piece — which ties several narrative threads together — don’t quite ripple through the rest of the show as deeply as they could.
That said, there is genuine warmth among the cast, and some lovely character work throughout. Nick Stevenson as Noah holds much of the driving emotional arc and weight of the story, and while his delivery is tender and natural, tightening the focus — both literally, with a narrower lighting state, and figuratively, with a more specific “to-camera” delivery — would further heighten the sense of intimacy. On the wide Melville Theatre stage, this moment occasionally slipped into something broader and less contained, diluting the "vlog" effect.
In a scene between Anna (Poppy Lindsell) and Tim (Jack Varley) towards the end of the show, the emotional truth hovers just below the surface. Both actors demonstrate strong instincts — there are flickers of something real and moving — but more time spent in those vulnerable moments could elevate the scene to something truly affecting. With such raw material to work with, giving the performers permission to linger in those silences or emotional shifts would go a long way.
The set really grounds us in the Fremantle-share-house vibe of the flashback scenes - comfortable, lived in and a piecemeal collection of all the housemates personalities. The only issue is that it feels ever-present, even when we're cutting away to Freo Markets, or across the country to a scene in Queensland. It's a tricky line to walk, and one that perhaps could have again benefited from some more narrow lighting to "hide" it when it shouldn't have been front and centre. The costuming felt appropriate for all the characters throughout the show, comfortable, lived in and truthful.
It’s clear Heart Lines comes from a place of care — both in its writing and direction. Bowden shows a keen understanding of the rhythms of friendship, the complexities of shared grief, and the messiness of memory. The cast should be commended for the commitment and sensitivity they bring to the stage. With a few tweaks to pacing, contrast, and delivery, this piece has the bones of something powerful.
Ultimately, this is a gentle and promising work that just needs a few more pulses — more peaks to counterbalance the valleys. With some refinement, Heart Lines could truly sing.
Reviewer Note: Kate has previously worked at Melville Theatre, most recently in 2022. Tickets for this review were provided by the theatre company.
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