A series of short plays, written & directed by women, are being presented at the NEW THEATRE in Newtown under the auspices of artistic director Louise Fischer.
They are presented as two separate collections: THEN and NOW.
There are five plays under the THEN banner:-
YOU AWAKE LOVE, written by Katie Pollock and directed by Annette Rowlinson, is set in the patriarchal society of the sixties and considers the impact of women joining the workforce, birth control, differing levels of enthusiasm for wife swapping and the gender imbalance in housekeeping.
At times it feels like being lectured to but overall it is an amusing and entertaining piece. One hopes the intrinsic argument of subjugation of women is being preached to the converted in inner city Sydney. Christine Greenough gives a fine performance as Mrs Smith, the initially downtrodden character that achieves growth by the end of the narrative.
The set, designed by Jessica Martin, features an upright double bed so that the actors remain standing and addressing the audience. This very practical device increases the audience’s feeling of involvement.
THE NIGHT WE LOST JENNY, written by Vanessa Bates and directed by Augusta Supple, is a captivating monologue. The realistic depiction of the group dynamics of young people making their first steps into an adult world is both poignant and humorous.
The characters described pretend to care about each other, but in truth it is a shallow level of care and substantially just posturing.
Jane Phegan delivers with authenticity, and charmingly dances the audiences back to our recent, but probably largely forgotten, time of growing up.
O JERICHO, written by Verity Laughton and directed by Louise Ficher, weaves together several story threads about an archaeology dig, conflict in the middle east, a backpacker tracing her roots, an Anglican bible scholar – there could be more stories contained in this play as it was hard to keep track. It was a cluttered and confusing piece that would work better as a full length play or movie rather than the quarter of an hour that was presented here.
There are many good performances in this play. Josipa Draisma as Ameera is one of the star performers, simmering with underlying emotional intensity and she sings beautifully. Shameer Birges as Joshua has a sublime voice.. Did I mention this short cluttered play also has time for a couple of brief songs? Samantha Roylance is suitably annoying as the pompous Dame Kathleen Kenyon.
The historical figure Dame Kathleen Kenyon was a courageous and remarkably innovative woman, but this is not sufficiently conveyed in the narrative.
Jennie Bazell as Vivienne Catleugh and Georgia Woodward as Lina both give excellent performances.
THE STOCKWOMAN, written by Kathryn Yuen & directed by Susannah Thompson, is a fleshed out version of the Ted Egan song, The Drover’s Boy. Richard Hilliar as The Drover and Thea Perkins as The Drover’s Boy give very strong performances as the central characters.
I initially thought Thea Perkins performance was uninspiring but as the play unfolded it became apparent that her weakness was the embodiment of the oppression of aboriginal women, and her performance was exactly what was required.
The physicality and the ocker characteristics of the stockman, Zach McKay, Tim Reuben & Robert Zavaszky, is well realised and very entertaining.
PLAY LIKE A GIRL, written by Gina Schien and directed by Ngaire O’Leary, is entertaining and well balanced. It delivers the message about the expected roles of women without being preachy. Jane Thomson, as older Kate, wisely presents what we all cringe about and lovingly reminisce about our younger selves. The younger Kate, played by Chloe Schwank, develops from an inarticulate innocent drummer to a more complex human being, through musical successes and some negative experiences that life throws in her path. This is a beautifully written piece that stays with you.
THEN plays at the New Theatre, 542 King St, Newtown until Saturday, 5th November, 2011.
© Mark Pigott, 2011