Review: The Pride

The Pride
Red Stitch Actors Theatre
29 July 2012
Red Stitch
to 18 August
redstitch.net

As Red Stitch's The Pride opens with a Philip Glass string quartet and two sharply-dressed men staring at each other across a spotless room, there's no hope that it's about a group a lions. And when a wife appears, it's all over red rover in terms of surprise.

Alternating between the UK in the 50s and the nows – although from the design it could be the 60s or 70s (were skirts that short in the 50s?) –  a threesome with the same names dovetail stories about how life as a gay man (with gorgeous hag, of course) has got better.

This positive and embracing premise supports characters who are full of doubt, fear and self-disgust and the production's passion for the "issue" is earnest and genuine, but The Pride doesn't move much further than the issue.

Director Gary Abrahams finds the moments of heartbreak and the balance of the humour, but with overly-passionate performances, the dialogue feels like a series of angry lectures, with the likes of the only-gay-men-understand-the-difference-between-emotional-and-physical-sex one, the AIDS one, the it's-ok-to-say-queer one, the how-dare-youngsters-use-gay-to-mean-something-else one and the deep-down-I-knew one.

The heart of Alexi Kaye Cambell's 2008 play (which won some impressive UK awards) and the emotional punch of its broken souls trying to find hope gets lost in the worthy lecturing. And who is it speaking to? If it's to silly old straight people who have no idea – they aren't in the audience to be told how small minded they are. It feels like it's yelling at the audience, "We're here we're queer: Get used to it", while its supportive audience are trying to say, "We know, we love you: Lets have a drink".

Ultimately The Pride is about honesty and being true to yourself with un underlying theme that defining anyone by their sexuality is ridiculous. And this is where this production is the most frustrating. There seems no reason for the attraction between either couple, other than they like cock. Without showing the love or the reason for the love, it becomes an eye-rolling night about men who are defined by their sexuality.

And it's all happening on a set that is so shabbily put together that its intelligent concept is destroyed by the glad wrap windows, tinfoil wall and stapled carpet. Sure a carpet flap and visible staples have nothing to so with the artistic integrity of a work, but why have anything that distracts from the world on the stage, especially something that is so easy to fix? The tiny things are like salt in a meal: when it's perfect, it's invisible, but too much or little ruins it.

I've already read The Pride described as a "gay play". Like gay marriage/relationship/anything (other than Golden Gaytime), this little adjective continues to support the notion that homosexuality needs to be defined because it's different and not normal. And that sucks. I don't give a toss about seeing a gay play; I want to see a play.

Review: UnAustralia

UnAustralia
La Mama
1 August  2012
La Mama Courthouse
to 19 August
lamama.com.au

When the publicity for a show beginning with "I'm not a racist, but...", I get ready to say "I'm not a critic, but...".

Unaustralia is set on Sydney's Cronulla beach and explores a fictional story leading up to the race riots of 2005. It's a bit like Channel 10s The Shire, but with less botox and much better.

The night begins with sight of Ken Roach's design. It's one of the best I've seen in the Courthouse, with floating surfboards, sand and a beach wall that instantly transport us to seaside Sydney and surprises with its projections.

Here blonde Aussie Simone, Lebanese Ali and Aboriginal Mannie love their daily surf where they trade stories about losing their virginity and things that matter. Meanwhile Ali's brother, cousin and sister come from Punchbowl on weekends and end up fighting with the bikini/Speedo clad Shire locals, and a politician (with a heart of slime) and a SBS journo (mostly interested in her own breasts) take advantage of the racial tension.

With many storylines, Reg Cribb's script wants to cover so much ground that it's hard to find the character and story that draws us through its complexity. The strongest and most engaging story is the Simone–Mannie–Nadia (Ali's sister) romantic triangle, and the subplots about the pollie and his cronies could go without losing any emotional impact. Sometimes, stuff you love has to be cut to make a story better.

As expected, there's too much preaching to the converted (yes, racism is bad), but the core characters connect because they are more than their stereotype. However, this depth isn't equally applied to the  the mindless Aussie chicks and lifeguards, flag-wearing thugs and cartoony pollie.

This kind of work is created to change attitudes and show a truth that is too often ignored in our media, but it will only work everyone on the stage comes from a broad and honest base. Racist violence and intolerance isn't restricted to the stupid. As long as the audience think "well, that's not me", the message is lost.

The heart of Unaustralia comes from its large cast, who are passionate about its message and its truth. Opening night nerves brought some inconsistency and scrappy scene changes broke the tension, but all this will tighten up as the run continues and its belief that we can create a better place to live will glow.

Xavier O'Shannessy talks about performing in UnAustralia.

Photo by Ben Fon

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com

Chat: Ben Grant, La Mama

The Shrink and Swell of Knots

La Mama

8–19 August 2012

lamama.com.au

Ben Grant created and performs in The Shrink and Swell of Knots, which opens at La Mama on 8 August .

A man starts building his own coffin, but decides to turn it into a raft in a work described as “an energetic, challenging and optimistic show about struggle, filled with music and ideas, practical information and poetry, transformation and grunt”.

What three words best describe your show?
Original, masculine and surprising.

Do you remember the first show you saw at La Mama?
The Wood Box in 1989.

What is one of your favourite shows you’ve seen at La Mama?
Coranderrk: We Will Show The Country.

I saw it a lot because I made the music.

What do you love about working at La Mama?
The people.

What do you love most about this show?
It’s mentally complex and physically simple.

Where is the best coffee in Carlton?
Tiamo 1.

Who would you love to see in your audience one night?
Mum and Dad, which is lucky as they’re coming.

What do you like to do after a performance?
Relax.

What was your first time on a stage?
When I was four, I played a god. It’s all been downhill from there.

Do you have any pre-show rituals?
A physical and vocal warm up.

What’s some great theatre advice you’ve used?
You don’t have to feel a damn thing.

What punishment do you think is fit for audience members who don’t turn their phones off during performances?
A bad credit rating.

What’s your favourite gelati flavour?
Nougat.

What role/character do you really want to play one day?
Pablo Picasso (stay tuned…)

Do you read reviews?
Sadly yes.

Do you know of any secret parking spots near the theatres (although it’s such a short walk from the Melbourne uni tram stop on Swanston Street, so driving isn’t necessary)?
Sadly no.

What are the best books you’ve read recently?
Theatre And The Body by Colette Conroy, A Scarecrow’s Bible by Martin Hyatt and A Study In Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle.

What question do you wish I’d asked?
Why did you write The Shrink And Swell Of Knots?

How would you answer it?
To see if it was possible to give a young person good advice.

This was on AussieTheatre.com