OBSERVER: Australian Open
Playwright Angus Cameron examines gender and societal expectations around relationships in a manner that is humorous, disarming but unerringly accurate.
A somewhat narcissistic tennis ace, Lucas (Eddie Orton) is in a relationship with a less secure Felix (Sebastian Li).
They are contemplating an open marriage to the chagrin of Felix’s parents, the deferential Peter (Alec Gilbert) and successful executive Belinda (Jane Montgomery Griffiths) who are questioning their own union and life choices.
Behind the scenes is the manipulative daughter Annabelle (Melissa Kahraman), an experimental physicist, whose curiosity about colliding atoms plays out domestically.
The genius of Australian Open lies in Cameron’s inversion of expectation where Felix wants his parent’s stability while advocating for recognition of diversity and altered social norms in his own. The question of expectation becomes more universal, hence the physicist, and is influenced by such mundane things as sibling rivalry and the passage of time.
The roles are deliberately stereotypical and played with delightful indulgence. Peter and Belinda are the wine drinking Toorak set. Lucas is vain, Felix sheltered and Annabelle calculating. They are played to great effect by the cast and, while not naturalistic, they work brilliantly in not just accentuating the humour but allowing for the issues and concerns about sexual identity to be explored more fully. Cameron has provided multiple opportunities for word play which the cast revel in.
Director Riley Spadaro has used the open set (Harry Gill) effectively. Resembling a tennis court, the rostrum at varying levels allow couples and groupings as required with the lighting (Sidney Younger) providing the necessary change of focus. The ceiling of mirror balls even provides a suggestion of the astronomical.
The balance of humour and insight, the playfulness regarding questions of gender and societal mores, and an understanding of human fragility makes this play and the current production the perfect vehicle to examine societal behaviour.
Presented at Theatre Works.
Review by David McLean
Pictured: Jane Montgomery Griffiths and Alec Gilbert in Australian Open.
Photo: Sarah Clarke.