Take a bow Ross Mueller. Yes, before we discuss the work of
director Sarah McKellar and her excellent cast we have to talk about the
writing. This is nothing less than what I call a “writer’s play” with sly
references and nods to the writing process itself and, oh my, Mueller is having
a grand old time with it. Word play galore, fractured timeline narrative,
intersecting character storylines, a faux mystery, characters breaking the
fourth wall and even suggesting scenes, and the mocking of clichés associated
with this style of story as the characters are all very self-aware about the
tale they’re in.
It’s deliciously clever, subversive and funny. Even the somewhat
overwrought shouting match at the end I took to be a poke at the expectations usually
contained within this type of tale. As a writer myself this was absolutely in
my wheelhouse and I loved the cheekiness and audacity of the script.
When you give such great writing to the talented cast McKellar
has assembled, well then, we’re off to the races. Those actors are Richard
Mellick as the cop Caesar who has been bashed on his way to court with
seemingly no memory of events leading up to that moment; Nichola Renton as his
girlfriend Julia who is also an emergency room Doctor and dealing with her
needy ex-husband James Jnr Jnr played by Ian Bolgia.
Then there’s Paul Grabovac
as James Jnr Jnr’s brother, James Jnr (I told you Mueller was having fun!) who
is melancholic and very anti-accordions. Russya Connor plays Katerina who is
Caesar’s legal advisor, the source of James Jnr’s moping, and (stay with me
here) is having sex with Caesar’s 15 year old son, Sergio (Danen Engelenberg)
who blogs about their sexual exploits having been ostracised from Facebook by
his schoolmates.
Initially I thought we were going to see two mysteries
solved over the course of the play – the reason for the bashing; and the
resolution of the relationship drama between Caesar and Julia. To be honest,
the first is really a device to give a major reason for these characters to
collide in surprising and unusual ways and it’s that exploration that is
fascinating not the mystery itself which remained fairly oblique.
Renton who is excellent as the caring Julia gives an inkling
of what’s to come with an early monologue directed at the audience where she
indicates that this will not be another tragedy and that their landscape is
comedy. There is also repeated mention of the cerebral meeting the physical and
that it is actions that define us not words - amusing when so many fine words
are being deployed here. She grounds the play with a well measured, sympathetic
turn as the woman supportive of her partner and striving to free herself from
her ex.
Bolgia gives a wonderfully boisterous performance as a man
who tries to win his wife back but uses words as a weapon even beseeching
others to guess what he is thinking by giving them the word count and number of
syllables. Grabovac is suitably morose by comparison as he loses his job to his
brother; is censored on air, not for his ideas but because he used foul
language; and who struggles with the loss of his girlfriend.
Mellick gets to inhabit two completely different sides of
Caesar – the bewildered bashing victim who muses about Bob Dylan, Osama bin
Laden and various other pop culture figures to amusing effect; and the last
good cop in town who refuses to lie in his statement to the court about a
celebrated war veteran who was murdered at “2am, in the morning, at night”.
Writer’s gags everywhere.
Connor is all feisty and sexy as the lawyer and has several
raunchy moments that are well staged with Engelenberg as the horny teenager who
doesn’t understand the ramifications of his actions and the trouble his blog
will cause. He has a standout moment delivering an hilarious monologue that is
as explicit as it is downright funny.
McKellar keeps the pace crackling along and I was having a
fine time with this. The playing with timelines means that the major
revelations when they are come are well crafted with the ending of the play a
nice surprise yet totally in sync with what has been set up. Impressive writing
that is directed and acted with impressive skill.
Concussion is on at The Blue Room Theatre with only one more
show, 7pm Saturday 30 August. Written by Ross Mueller and directed by Sarah
McKellar, it stars Richard Mellick, Nichola Renton, Ian Bolgia, Paul Grabovac,
Russya Connor and Danen Engelenberg.
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