Tales of corporate greed and malfeasance have always been a
staple of storytelling in one form or another as people react to the inequities
of capitalism and big business. But those stories appear to have taken on a
greater malevolence since the Global Financial Crisis as countless lives have
been ruined as a direct result of institutional incompetence. One of the
biggest targets, of course, is the banking industry and it’s here that The
Crossing sets its tale.
Stella (Taryn Ryan) is ‘corporate fixer’. She cleans up any
mess the staff makes and ensures that damage control is effectively and rapidly
put in place. But there’s been a leak to the media – a very damaging leak - that
threatens the bank and highly placed executives. She is tasked to find out who
the source is and to shut down the story… at any cost.
In this she is assisted by her colleague and mentor (Erin
Hutchinson) and the barman counsel of Nick Maclaine who is attracted to the
young and ambitious banking employee. As she interviews staff (a variety
of roles played by Maclaine) Stella discovers an unsavoury truth that threatens
her own future and spirals the situation out of control.
Billed as a ‘noir cabaret’ The Crossing also incorporates
songs and a distinctive score composed by Elliott Hughes and played to great
effect by Jackson Vickery on the Vibraphone. Great effort has been made to
create atmosphere through the score, sound effects, and the lighting design. It
is certainly a stylish looking and sounding production in the PICA performing
arts space. I particularly liked the ever changing messages on the light box as
if they were chapter headings of a noir novel.
The quality of the performances is also very good. Maclaine
is a likeable presence as the barman dispensing whisky infused wisdom while
struggling to keep his business afloat. He also gives his various employee
characters enough distinctive characteristics to delineate them clearly.
Hutchinson gets to vamp it up a little as a boozy lounge singer; a stern senior
executive; but most critically as the mentor who is a key player in Stella’s
descent into the corporate rabbit hole of deceit and greed.
Then there’s Ryan who graduated from WAAPA last November.
She certainly looks the part of a go-getting executive, all sleek and driven,
with hair tightly pulled back, heels and corporate attire. She exudes
confidence and competence particularly in a long ‘interrogation’ sequence which
is complicated by largely being sung-talk.
So all the elements are in place but the show didn’t work
for me for several reasons more to do with the writing and conception.
The leak itself felt like a complete McGuffin. I didn’t know
what it was, why it was so devastating that it prompted death threats, and
basically what the stakes really were. That meant I didn’t understand what
would drive Stella to committing actions that end up being quite excessive in
the context of the corporate world. There needed to be something more than
maybe she didn’t end up with a bigger office. She needed to be in direct
personal danger but that was never explored. This felt like a cross between
Michael Clayton and Up In The Air but the stakes of the former weren’t there
nor the emotional heft of the latter.
Also, the key relationship was never established. A lot of
time was spent between Stella and the Barman and that was perfectly fine as a
subplot but the heartbeat of the piece is between Stella and her mentor. I
never saw that bond in action to therefore understand subsequent developments
which form the emotional pulse of the story.
Finally, I was confused by the overall tone. There were
moments of comedy and shtick that felt jarring within the drama and noir of the
world created. I didn’t understand what the boozy lounge singer represented
other than Hutchinson gets to sing the more melodic songs which she does well.
The senior executive with over exaggerated shoulder pads and demeanour felt
like straight parody. Even the musical component didn’t quite gel with the
tension of the interrogation scene undercut by song. There seemed so many
disparate parts – comedy, drama, noir, parody, musical, cabaret – that I was
never quite sure what ultimately this was.
Stylish to look at with an intriguing score and good
performances this didn’t quite click for me with abrupt tonal changes that
undercut the drama and noir sensibility.
