Five. Point. One. The Bakehouse Theatre. 11 May 2013
This is a seriously intriguing play. It challenges the audience on so many levels – for me, the challenges revolved more around the conventions of theatre, particularly the ‘why’. Why was this play, Muff, so sexually explicit, confronting and pornographic? Questions I pondered over solidly both during and for a long time after the performance; and what was the point? What was it all for anyway? What was I meant to take away from the show?
It is a kind of introspective look at ‘real’ people by Australian playwright Van Badham. Badham has pulled out the innermost thoughts and feelings of her characters and then painted them on the outside. She shows us what we might not normally see, the private lives of 3 individuals. Two women, one man - sex, rape, pornography, and of course, muff. I’m not sure if it was the performance I saw, or the writing in the play, but I didn’t get it. I understood what was going on – but I didn’t understand why I was being subjected to it. Nor what I was supposed to gain from seeing it. But it definitely made me feel something – and perhaps that was the point?
It was stimulating. It made me sad. It made me afraid. It turned me on. But more than all of those things it made me feel awkward. I would not categorise myself as a prude – far from it. But I did often wonder if all of the nudity, sex, language and violence was completely necessary in delivering the function of the play… Then it ended, and all I was left with were my ‘stimulations’. Perhaps that was the point? Perhaps, like contemporary dance, I wasn’t supposed to make sense of it – I was just supposed to feel.
Either way, the players – Claire Glenn, Serena Moorghen and Brad Williams – are incredibly brave for taking on their roles. Each does an amazing job. Glenn is by far the standout in terms of believability, consistency and commitment. As Eve, she is tormented by her past but balances her character’s manipulative tendencies perfectly with her insecurities. Williams is very composed as Tom, but his character didn’t feel quite conflicted enough by his feelings for the two women. It would have been nice to see more of the ‘true-love’ he harbours for Eve. Moorghen’s character, Manpreet, would be a tough ask for any young actress, and for the most part she was as foul mouthed and dominating as the playwright intended, but it just slightly lacked believability for me. I didn’t get a real sense that she absolutely meant the dirty and raunchy things her character was saying all the time, and given the tiny character arc of Manpreet, the conviction required to elicit absolute belief in a static character is paramount.
The lighting, set and sound (Chris Petridis, Myf Cadwallader and Tristan Louth-Robbins, respectively) was great. It totally suited the production and facilitated the nudity and sex whilst maintaining a voyeuristic sensuality and edginess. There were perhaps too many relocations of a rolling shower head than the show required, but it was occasionally used to great effect. There were a few, very subtle, pieces of action that never explained themself and which added to the cryptic nature of the piece. I think it is a show that is going to hold all sorts of different meaning for every member of the audience. I’m not sure that it will be a show for everyone, however.
If you think you have the stomach for some serious theatre, I would encourage you to check this show out. But be warned, it will mess with you. I wanted the ‘awkward’ to stop so I could try and get my head around what I was watching. It never went away – and before I knew it the show was over. I enjoyed it, I’m just not sure why.
Paul Rodda.
When: 10 to 25 May
Where: The Bakehouse Theatre
Bookings: bakehousetheatre.com
