As I walked down the stairs to the Old
Fitz theatre I was punched in the face with the acrid odour of pot.
Or was it mould? I'm not sure I can tell the difference anymore.
Years of shared townhouses in the inner-west has rendered these two
odours indistinguishable. The more I think about it, the more I
realise it was probably a mixture of both. By the time I walked into
the theatre the smell had dissipated, replaced with another smell
reminiscent of student living, smell of ply-wood sawdust and
bargains, smell of Ikea.
The stage was set similar to Tyler
Durden's condo. A beech, modular Ikea wardrobe, an ikea couch and
floating floorboards. I knew this look well. It looked like the first
house I lived in straight after uni. I can imagine set designer
Charles Davis had a painful weekend with an allan key assembling
flurgens.
The opening dinner party introduces us to the seven female characters. Claudia Barrie as Emma sets the tone
with “I'm so desperate, I think I might spike my own drink.” We
soon learn that the women live very separate lives, their only common
link is their shared past. Their friendships are now straining with the
added weight adult responsibilities. Their snappy chatter is playful
and familiar. I feel like I am on the couch glass of wine in hand,
watching my old friends try to drink away their initial discomfort of
catching up with people you no longer understand.
Mad March Hare's production of A Moment
on the Lips, attempts to tackle a variety of issues through its all
female cast. Freedom of religion, third culture living, gay marriage,
financial independence and female body images. Some of these issues
are tackled more authentically than others. The character of
Dominique felt flat and I don't think this was a result of Sonja
Kerr's performance. Maybe director Mackenzie Steele could have spent
more understanding the significance of her prognosticating character
to give her more mass.
The rapid, quick fire dialogue was fun.
However, there were times the piece flounced close to the line of
cliché. I'd say this was mostly due to Jonathan Gavin's writing. Steele's mostly careful direction meant that the
performances skirted away from what easily could have been
eye-rollingly stereotypical portrayals of the seven women.
The scenes between the sisters Victoria
and Jenny (played by real-life sisters Beth and Sarah Aubrey) were
strong and deeply personal. I couldn't flaw either of their
performances. Though, the standout for me was Lucy Golby as Rowena
she gave a very realistic and nuanced performance as a character that
could have very easily fallen into the long list of stereotypical
lesbian portrayals in the Sydney theatre scene. Golby played Rowena
in such a lovable way, that she became the heart of the piece.
A Moment on the Lips is a personal and
sentimental piece of theatre. It made me want to call all of my
friends from high school and remind them I love them, just in case
they die in an unlikely bird related car accident.
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