Holding the Man

Yesterday we saw Holding the Man at the Malthouse. Every year the MTC stage at least one of the shows at the Malthouse. This makes an interesting change. This time we arrived early, ate in the Malthouse restaurant, browsed the bookshop, walked outside looking at the tall and slender Eureka Tower from a different angle than usual, took in Vault the sculpture that philistines have come to call The Yellow Peril; a pleasant interlude before a wonderful night of theatre.

Occasionally we go to a play without great expectations and leave realising that we have just seen a play that we will remember forever. Holding the Man fell into that rare category. I knew that the play was about two homosexual lovers but little more, so I was not prepared for the profound experience that was to follow.

One reviewer summarised the play as follows:

Deeply moving and often very funny, HOLDING THE MAN is the story of Tim and John who met in high school in the mid-1970s. Tim is an actor performing in the school production of Romeo & Juliet when he reveals his crush on John, captain of the football team. Over the next 15 years, an unlikely and remarkable relationship develops which weathers disapproval, temptation and ultimately death.

The play was adapted by Tommy Murphy from Tomothy Conigrave's memior, published in 1995. Guy Edmonds plays Conigrave and Matt Zeremes plays John Caleo. The photo shows Zeremes and Edmonds as the teenage Caleo and Conigrave at school

Although Edmonds and Zeremes superbly realise the characters the play is a wonderful all round ensemble performance with the supporting actors Jeanette Cronin, Nicholas Eadie, Robin McLeavy and Brett Stiller playing a range of wonderfully performed characters. I particularly appreciated Jeanette Cronin who played a range of characters including Mrs Caleo and a particularly ugly boy. Her emotional and expressive range was very impressive. Another fine performance was from Nicholas Eadie who played the buttoned up, conservative and ultimately grasping Mr Caleo, as well as the new age, liberated mother of one of the boy's female friends.

Cronin and Eadie as Mrs and Mr Caleo

I can't resist the following quote from an Australian Stage online review:

We meet two families, we meet the parents, we meet the mates, we meet the circle jerkers, we meet the Gay soc meetings at University, we meet NIDA teachers, we meet the doctors who dish out the AZT treatments, we meet Conigrave performing Soft Targets at Griffin Theatre in 1986, we meet lover Caleo’s alter ego’s beset with dementia, memory loss and we meet an avalanche of Conigraves involuntary memories. We meet the soul of Caleo on his deathbed, we meet the puppet double of Caleo, the dessicated pile of skin and bones shed by the spirit that is too great for any mortal vessel. We meet the grief, we meet the loss, we meet the longing, we meet the cursory precious sense of love and belonging where true love resides.

This play has clearly been one of the highlights of the season, the other being The Season at Sarsparilla. They were both performed by sensational casts, with the most moving story from Holding the Man but more innovative staging from Sarsparilla

Tom Lehrer

Tom Lehrer turned 80 today.

Enjoy!

Love Song

Yesterday we saw the MTC Play Love Song at the Fairfax.

The publicity blurb describes it as:

A light, quirky romantic comedy, Love Song has the qualities of a fairy tale for grown-ups, containing an enchantment that is street-smart and a story that will dissolve the most encrusted cynicism.

Beane is a loser who lost himself long ago. He now ekes out a lonely, spartan bachelor existence in a crummy apartment. His sister and brother-in-law have long given up on him and, besides, they have troubles of their own. Then one night, Beane has his home invaded by a beautiful burglar and he sees the gleam of other possibilities. But how is he to know if this love is real?

The photo below is one of the publicity shots showing all cast members.




The final line is "this love real?" has a double meaning. The obvious - is the relationship genuine and fulfilling - is not the real meaning. The actual meaning is " is this lover real?" The burglar who breaks into Beane's flat is a figment of his imagination. But the "relationship" that develops between them transforms Bean from the anti-social and troubled loner to an active and socially effective man. This has a significant effect on Beane but also on those around him. The relationship between his sister and brother-in-law blossoms when Bean's problems appear solved.

The method by which the playwright handles the growing realisation that Bean's girlfriend is imaginary is interesting: Bean will attempt to live his new socially effective life without his imaginary friend but if it does not work out then she will "return".

For much of this play I was not sure that I liked it. It was only at the end that I decided that I had enjoyed the play and consequently left the theatre satisfied.

The Club

Last night we saw David Williamson's The Club at Wyndham.

The play is an icon of Australian theatre, and with John Wood as Jock I have been looking forward to seeing it. The last time I attended this play it was a fairly new offering.

The play has been summarised as:

a story about egotism, commitment, power, jealousy and greed. The Club covers the transition of Australian sport into Australian business. The culture and rituals of an old football club are torn to shreds as the mighty dollar takes over. As one player remarks, "all we got for joining was a guernsey and a pat on the back. I've given the club 10 years of my life and all I've got in the bank is 80 dollars"

The play not only covers a historical transition in Australian society it is a piece of history itself. Sadly I left the theatre feeling a touch disappointed. The play had a dated feel and I did not particularly like any of the characters so I did not care about what happened to them.

The highlight, of cause, is the stoned scene at the beginning of the second act. The photo shows Wood as Jock and Guy Kable as Geoff getting him stoned and telling Jock an outrageous, and untrue, family story.



The cast performed well, particularly Denis Moore and Simon Wilton. Moore played the Club president moving from a hand wringing nervous fidget to raging and frenzied. Wilton beautifully played the club administrator, Gerry, a smiling assassin, manoeuvring behind the scenes and lying to everyone to get what he wants.

Irrespective of my slight unease about the play, it was a much more enjoyable experience that our first outing at Wyndham - The Queen of Bingo .