Above : Tracy Mann plays the leading character Monique in David Williamson’s new play ARIA





Four stars.
The set up to Williamson’s new play ARIA sees late sixties matriarch Monique invite her three sons, Charlie, Liam and Daniel, with their wives, over for annual afternoon drinks.
There is the usual scenario with these get togethers. Lots of champagne is drunk. Rather than a happy gathering, it is the time for Monique to pay out on her daughter-in-laws who she believes aren’t good enough for her darling sons. The afternoon always ends up with Monique singing a favourite aria which they are obliged to sit through.
According to Monique, the world and, in particular, her family, should behave the way she wants it to. Good luck with that. As the pivotal character, she is up for a fight, and this time her daughter-in-laws are ready to push back. This tug of war is the crux of the plot.
Williamson’s main targets remain the same; the pollies and the upper middle class, and there are many zingy jokes interspersed through the play.
A case in point is when Monique presses Daniel not to go ahead with Judy’s decision to take their daughter out of the private school she attends , and instead berth her in to a public school, the nominated school being Concord High. There is raucous laughter when this is announced.
For all its laughs, ARIA is more than a bit on the dark side. Williamson’s view of relationships sees them as hard, are they worth it, work. Well, no arguments there! Mother and son relationships are tense, more and daughter relationships acrimonious, and husband and wife relationships fraught. In terms of the battle of the sexes, the men come across as much less aware and more selfish than the men. Witliamson’s characters are neurotic, complaining a lot, in a first world way, and not enjoying enough.
Williamson also runs the line that, just perhaps, many of us aren’t as smart, as bright, as funny, as we think, and maybe we should have more realistic ambitions, a theme which Williamson has espoused before in plays such as mediocre, talentless scriptwriters who think that they are going to be the next Williamson! Well, good luck with that!
Janine Watson’s production serves the play well. Rose Montgomery’s finely detailed living room set impresses with many framed family photos, ice buckets with champagne, plenty of finger food, and a very necessary exit to Monique’s much beloved garden.
Montgomery’s costumes help to give each character their distinctive look, and the work of Matt Cox’s lighting and David Bergman’s soundscape keep the drama tight.
A good cast bring out their characters well. Tracy Mann inhabits Monique fully. She has the look, the tone, the mannerisms, the mean spiritedness of her character down pat. The barbs keep coming. Her rendition of the aria Queen OF The Night is hilarious.
The first couple to walk in to the lion’s den are Charlie and his new wife, Midge. Rowan Davie’s Charlie, in his late thirties, is an everybody loves Charlie character, good natured and extroverted. He loves nothing more than watching sports on tv, hanging out with the guys, sailing on the harbour and the Sydney to Hobart race. Works in advertising.
Tamara Lee Bailey plays Charlie’s new wife, Midge. Midge is a glam queen, and comes in a tight fitting, sexy outfit. She works as a beautician. Midge is worried about going out in to the garden because the breeze may muck up her hair.
Jack Starkey-Gill plays Liam who is the most pushy, ambitious son. He works as the Minister for Local Government. Liam wants to take the job, the Premier of the state, and he is damned if he’s not going to get it. He is an astute observer of the political landscape.
Liam : As the Minister for Local Government, my desk lamp has more power than I have. All I get to hear is whining Nimby councillors blocking any attempt at getting a little medium density development near the CBD, or the Nats on a holy crusade to make sure the last remaining tree in the state is felled by 2030.’
Suzannah McDonald’s plays his wife Chrissy, a forceful presence who has plenty of grievances; she calls her four children feral and says they never listen to her. On top of this, her husband is never at home to help her. Chrissy has had a gutful of playing housewife, and wants to go back to work.
Sam O’Sullivan plays Liam’s non identical twin. Daniel. Daniel is a kind of passive, go with the flow guy, working as an architectural draftsman, and very much in shadow of his wife Judy, well played by Danielle King, who works as a partner in a leading law firm. The seeds for conflict are present, and Monique doesn’t miss her chance.
Verdict. Williamson knows his shtick and he is sticking to it. We can now add Monique to his treasure trove of quirky, compelling main characters.
David Wllliamson’s ARIA is playing the Ensemble theatre until the 15th March 2025. Get in quick before the show sells out,
Production photography by Prudence Upton.