OBSERVER: Who’s Talking?
It is in the final scenario of Bron Lewis’s comic set, Who’s Talking, that we see the real comic potential of her subject matter about her time as a teacher.
She recounts a confrontation with a student that could well escalate.
This is fertile ground for addressing the polite conventions and social mores associated with schooling that are inadequate when it comes to dealing with hormonal and angry adolescents. Appropriateness clashes with reality and comedy is the only solution.
As a teacher I know these situations intimately; not being able to say what you want to say, dealing with awkward questions in a sex education class without adequate training.
Teachers are the stalwarts facing hurdles that are often insurmountable. You really need a good sense of humour.
For all that, Lewis’s set begins with her time raising her three children which enables her to identify with her audience.
There are attempts to draw a parallel between the two worlds of schooling and parenting with her comments on parenting apps allowing some connection but the two fields don’t always sit well together. There is so much more that could be gleaned from the querulous, quarrelling quagmire that is education.
I’d be adding comments about administrations but perhaps I’m projecting my own experience into this review a little too much.
Lewis handles her shtick well and she riffs without losing the thread of her thinking.
I’m sure she’ll make a good prefect candidate in the future though her choice of language may be a bad influence on some of the other children.
Being awarded colours for drama speaks to her time on the stage but, as her English teacher, I’d like to see her pay more attention to her grammar.
Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Review by David McLean