I've mentioned the classes I've taken with Kim Tobin and Philip Lehl in blogs before (Days 254, 269, and 476, among others), and this show offers more proof that they are actually gods. Stark Naked Theatre is their baby, and Philip directed this show and Kim stars in it.
Kim and Philip are married (to each other) have such wisdom and experience that when they go off on a tangent in class, you pay attention, coz it's going to be either hilarious or freaking gold. Something funny Kim said in class once (I'm putting it in quotation marks but of course I don't remember it word-for-word):
"You fall in love with people on stage. It's an imaginary circumstance, and to a certain extent an imaginary relationship, but a real emotion. So I tell my husband all the time - I'm in love with this person, is that ok? Coz I need to tell you that I'm in love with this person in this play. And he'll say, "Honey, can I just sit and watch the play?" and I'll say, "Oh, no, you're directing the play." "
I see so many shows, but I've only seen a few other shows since leaving Melbourne that even came close to how good this play is. The script is brilliant. It's by a playwright that this company loves called Annie Baker. You know how some TV shows are overwritten and they dumb it down by explaining things that don't need to be explained, and you know how (if you've ever read an early draft of any of the few plays I've written) you sometimes think "I don't understand what's going on; this is totally underwritten?" Well, for me this show had just the right level of "writtenness". Beautiful, complex moments and symbolism and relationships that touched me to the heart without bashing me over the head.
Whenever anyone asked me what this play I was going to see was about (feeling a little awkward because of the juxtaposition of the company name and the show name) I wasn't really sure what to tell them. You can read the blurb on the company website, so essentially I burbled that back at whoever was asking. I really was only going because despite my best efforts I'd never seen Kim or Philip's work on stage yet. But as I was watching it I went "relationship drama". That's how you describe it as briefly as possible. And as I learned from Kim's classes, what makes for thrilling theatre is authentic relationships.....well, I couldn't take my eyes off the actors for a second. The character of the son (who spends the whole show protesting too much that he doesn't have Aspbergers) is repulsive - a very unpleasant human being - but fascinating, and very funny, and although tears threatened a lot during this show, he was the one who finally made me cry. Kim's character (his mother) and her partner are both beautifully drawn and performed. You know when you are with a couple or watching a show about a couple and you recognise which role in the relationship you play? Well, I spent about half the play thinking "Oh, I'm so like Joyce" and the other half thinking "Oh, I'm so like Phyllis". They were both just such real beautiful characters and I recognised myself in both of them. And the fourth character, who isn't as touching because you don't really go on a journey with him as much, was still fascinating and enigmatic and great to watch. And the set, costume and sound design were all great and served all this stuff really well.
The issues in the script make my head turn. The male gaze, self-awareness, how language shapes how we think, the nature of art, the nature of relationships, gender stuff....it all sounds academic, and it was, but in such a way as to be painfully personal as well. There was an art exhibition on the female form in partnership with the show, which to be honest felt a little conflicting (how do you look at some of those pieces of art and not get angry, as the character of Phyllis does, about being complicit in the patriarchal system, and then see the other pieces grouped with them and feel that those too are undermined and made more complicated?) ....God, that sentence was so long I lost track of it.
From the sublime to the ridiculous. :)
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