Elizabeth Surbey

ROUGH TRADE : A NIGHT OF SORRY LAUGHTER

Katie Pollock in ROUGH TRADE. Pic Clare Hawley

Katie Pollock ever so gently takes us through her complex and slow reveal within her ‘part stand-up, part takedown of capitalism, part wannabe dancing dildo musical’ one-woman play.

A soft mist and gentle soundscape waft us into her insecure world and reveals her at once toughened resilience and vulnerable precarious hope. Implicit in the cardboard boxes on stage is the prospect of another move, and the need to get rid of objects. There is a child’s wooden chair, which is both a symbol of the way our objects carry an important trace of our lives and an object which can be traded.  The author uses the title of the piece, ROUGH TRADE, to refer to a Facebook site where members use a barter system to trade objects and services with each other without the use of money. 

This is the time for a play of its nature. 

The playwright draws attention to her invisibility and loss of status post marital separation and an enforced downsizing. The economic vulnerability post-covid has given new currency to the fantasy of trading up from a paperclip to a house. Katie explores this tension between capitalism and collectivism in this micro-economy. Her situation and disenfranchisement also reflect the order of patriarchy and the vulnerability of the individual selling themselves on the open market. 

Pollock’s manner is conversational and she shifts into her otherness through engaging with other “rough traders”. There is a clunkiness to her movement as a performer as she wandered about the tape described area. However, there is an authenticity to the way she holds the emotion for the audience as she journeys through her isolation and let downs, her fears and favours. There are also times of immense laughter-out-loud which relieves the tension and points to trading up as a metaphor for life moving forward with its own momentum. 

I commend her writing which at the same time describes her as ‘matter out of place’ and also creates a perfect tiny house for her experience.  

For me it was a night of sorry laughter and pain. Raw and real. I cannot say I didn’t enjoy it. I did. I feel I got what I wanted from the trade. 

ROUGH TRADE played the Seymour Centre between the 6th and 10th October, 2022 and is playing the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th September 2022.

Featured image Katie Pollock in ROUGH TRADE. Pic Clare Hawley

Review by Elizabeth Surbey

 

 

Published by Elizabeth Surbey

Elizabeth had a passion for theatre and performing from her youth and was a keen contributor to the joint school musicals- mostly the Gilbert and Sullivan romps. Once she headed to university this passion dominated with a 4 year stint at UNE in Armidale encompassing both performance and directing as major components of her Double Major in Drama and Major in English Literature. The year after graduation she found herself not only at the newly formed Actors' Centre but also teaching high school drama. She is still there, teaching, directing, writing for high school Drama and on the side across the years has performed in small season productions at Q theatre and directed several productions for the Short & Sweet program being a part of the inaugural group. Keenly she has represented other drama educators as committee member then President of Drama NSW also representing NSW on the National Committee at Drama Australia National Conferences. She completed her MA a century ago also with a focus on Drama & Theatre at UNSW. She is now a mum of two and recently directed her sixth Musical - perhaps now coming full circle in the scheme of things. She was contributing and consulting editor on a major Drama text for Cambridge Uni Press "Drama ReLoaded". More than anything she loves theatre and is very keen to share her experiences with this forum. Each year she directs secondary students in plays from Australia and across the globe, in productions large and small.