Groovy `Party’ a big laugh
DON'S
PARTY: Chalk Farm Theatre
The
Studio, Holden Street Theatres, Hindmarsh
Until
March 5
IF YOU
first saw Don's Party around the time
it was written, or if you remember the 1976 movie, you probably think of it as
a piece of naturalistic contemporary Australian drama.
Some
time in the past 30 years, however, David Williamson's classic dark-edged
comedy of manners about the defeat of the Labor Party
in the 1969 federal election has become a period piece, performed by actors born
a generation or more later than the characters they play, and dressed up in
their parents' clothes.
What's
even more frightening is that three decades later, Australia is back in the
same situation, with Labor voters huddled round the
TV set in fear and apprehension every time another election night comes round.
For a
period piece, Don's Party has an
extraordinary amount of contemporary relevance.
But
this production of it never quite comes together.
Geoff Crowhurst's uneven direction creates frequent patches of
onstage emotional incoherence, with some characters played as cartoon
stereotypes and others as naturalistic portraits.
There
are several ensemble scenes in which the characters don't really seem to be
conversing, and a number of the male characters repeatedly burst into red-faced
ranting for no apparent reason.
It's
also hard to believe that this assortment of male psychologists, dentists,
lawyers and accountants - even in those dark pre-feminist days - could have
been quite such an immature, inarticulate, irresponsible bunch of sexist
sleazebags, slobs and thugs as the play, and this production of it, make them
out to be.
Among
the male characters the two exceptions to this are Eugene Suleau
in a wonderfully stitched-up performance as Simon the Liberal-voting
accountant, and Matt Russell exercising his gentle comic talents as the
bewildered, newly abandoned Mack.
On the
whole, the female characters in this play are nicer, stronger and more
knowledgeable than their partners, so among the actors the women tend to fare
better, with the script and the director allowing them to go for subtler, less
over-played acting styles.
The
female cast is uniformly strong, with particularly good performances by Jo-Anne
Dunstan as the sexy Kerry and Wendy Bos as the sweet, over-dressed, flat-chested,
Liberal-voting Jody.
The
highlight is the scene early in Act 2 where the women congregate in the kitchen
and begin discussing their sex lives. A brilliant, hilarious
piece of ensemble work.
The
minimalist, early-1970s interior set, with its
And if Labor-voting middle-class professional Australian men
really did once behave like that as recently as 1969, then we should all be
grateful for the change.
KERRYN GOLDSWORTHY
● Review published in the Weekly Times
Messenger,