UK playwright Jez Butterworth’s play ‘Parlour Song’ takes us into the world of two middle-class couples that have made it, living in beautiful new houses on lovely new estates on the edge of the English countryside. Rather than showing us how much they are enjoying their hard won piece of real estate, Butterworth shows us how difficult and unsatisfying their lives have become.
The main character, Ned, is going through a big mid-life crisis. He has developed a serious case of insomnia, his relationship with his wife, Joy, is become increasingly dissipated, and his job, he is a demolitions expert specialising in pulling down old houses, is stressing him out.
Ned seeks the solace of his next-door neighbour Dale to try to snap him out of his blue period. Dale is the bored, laid back owner of a car-wash chain who is married to Lyn, a woman who is talked about but whom we never meet. Ned’s seeking of Dale as his counsel is the ‘hook’ of the story as Dale proves to be absolutely the wrong kind of person to confide in.
Butterworth tells his gaping crack in the suburban dream story in a quirky fashion. There are some very funny moments such as when Ned, determined to work out, does a leg lift that causes him great pain, and instantly he knows he has done the wrong thing. There are the surreal moments as when Ned’s prized possessions including his lawnmower disappear from the family home. And then are the erotic moments such as Joy’s provocative description to Dale of how she makes lemonade!
Cristabel Sved directs ‘Parlour Song’ with clarity and a care for a work that she clearly loves. She wisely chooses for the cast to perform the play without having to use accents. The cast of three do good work. Drew Fairley is great as the manic Ned desperately trying to get his life under control. Matt Dyktynski gives a confident performance as the personable but complex Dale, with the role seeing him also acting as the play’s narrator. Anna Lise Phillips is memorable as the unhinged Joy with a bit of a ‘Desperate Housewives’ feel to the role.
Production values are strong with William Bobbie Stewart’s minimalistic set suiting the space, featuring a lime floor and long blinds as a backdrop. Matthew McCall’s audio-visual design worked well with the eerie use of video footage showing houses being demolished, one of the play’s defining images and metaphors.
‘Parlour Song’, which the playwright once offhandedly described as, ‘simply the story of a blues song’, is playing downstairs Belvoir Street until Sunday 6th June.
15th May, 2010