In the 1960’s a methodology for analysis of literature, philosophy and other associated works emerged. It was labelled Deconstruction with a major premise that in any text there are multiple possible meanings, perspectives andapparent contradictions such as good/evil, presence/absence, or male/female. Deconstruction also emphasizes the role of the responder in shaping the meaning of a text, arguing that our own biases and assumptions play a crucial role in the way a work is understood.
It became such a popular approach that it even crossed into cooking, with deconstructed pavlovas and so on, but that’s another story.
MULTIPLE BAD THINGS by multiple award-winning Geelong based Back to Back Theatre opens on the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre stage with what appears to be a deconstructed set; a tangle of gold pipes piled onto a mirrored oval centred on the floor. This oval is also repeated on the backdrop as a projection, a cloudy swirl onto which is also projected the dialogue of the 4 actors.
Set and costume designer, Anna Cordingley, has also included a cluttered desk decorated with assorted animal figurines anda large computer screen open to a game of solitaire, and on the opposite side downstage left, an oversized inflated pink flamingo pool float.
So commences our first deconstruction challenge – what do we make of this? It’s appears to be symbolically indicative of a construction site in a potentially surreal and abstract world, and in essence that’s about right really, as the ensuing “work” of putting pieces of the pipe together is punctuated by a series of interactions and statements that serve to expose and highlight issues of inequity and power imbalance, sexuality, misogyny, sexism, ableism and racism.
Back to Back regular Simon Laherty enters first, and in a witty and dry manner, informs us about the triggers and attitudes that suppress and control, as well us informing us that “…this is theatre. It is not real.” It’s a cleverly humorous start, a classic technique to relax the audience in preparation for the hard-hitting punches to come later. He then seats himself at the computer desk, intermittently passing comment on the ensuing dialogues and debates while playing solitaire and watching videos of animals of prey and wandering across stage to collect Cheezels and Coke. He’s like a modern, quirky solo member from the chorus of a Greek tragedy.
Sarah Mainwaring appears next, and painstakingly commences trying to assemble the pipes, while Bron Batten scooters on and off and Scott Price lumbers on, plonks himself down in the flamingo inflatable and commences to scroll through his phone.
In absurdist,fashion, the ensuing stage action is less about what happens and more about what it all means. In their weirdly codependent world they debate, manipulate, shout at one another and play petty games. Batten, like a school yard bully, roams around the set, posing and posturing provocatively on the pipes and playing verbal power games. As the most physically able, she is representative of abusive power, ignoring Mainwaring’s cries for assistance with the construction, gleefully pulling the plug on the inflatable flamingo while Price is in it and ironically claiming that she too is diverse, pretending victimhood in order to victimise another.
Meanwhile, Mainwaring, the least physically able, continues to work on the set and occasionally acts as the voice of reasonand peace. She is measured and controlled and completely compelling. Later, some welcome genuine laughter returns when she calls a helpline, and the recorded voice commences with the usual bureaucratic spiel but then degenerates into outright aggression and profanity. We appreciate the satire.
Composer and Sound Designer Zoë Barry underscore the action with a haunting and evocative soundscape, supplemented by Richard Vabre’s atmospheric lighting, and together they create multiple beautiful moments of isolationand tension.
Directors Tamara Searle and Ingid Voorendt have paid attention to “…specific dramatic threads in relation to these actors: empathy, borders, territory, extinction, identity politics”. Their approach, somehow balancing technique and control with chaos and ensemble improvisation and devising, has created an organic, thematically layered and surprising production, with occasional random moments of stage action that appear to be there just for fun.
Back to deconstruction. One of the core tenets is ambiguity, binary oppositions. Searle and Voorendt have worked with the “moral ambiguity between abuser and victim in the culture wars”. There’s no judgement, no moralising, no outcomes as we bear witness to the multiple bad things being represented and discussed, and that makes it even more resonant. You be the judge.
And out of the initial set deconstruction, the lack of order, plot, specific action or seemingly common purpose, comes a magical moment of symbolic belonging where we realise that this is all in reverse. This play starts with deconstruction and works forward to put the bits and pieces together and it all makes sense, somehow.
This is how we live our messy, complicated and diverse lives, working as best we can with what we have.
Back to Back Theatre engages with members who are neurodivergent or disabled on stage and has been operational for 30 years, openly questioning what is possible in theatreand how we view ourselves and others. They have won multiple awards, touring nationally and internationally.
Duration : One hour without interval
A Sydney Theatre Company and Sydney Opera House production , Back to Back Theatre’s MULTIPLE BAD THINGS plays the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre until 12 January 2025.
Production photography by Victor Frankowski
