Creative Absence. The Crown and Anchor Hotel. 1 March 2015
Although this event is advertised as a single work entitled ego-less-ego-ist, by Bodhi Shribman, what you get is two short plays, including Bang, by Alex Petkova, in the one packed hour at the Crown and Anchor. I think I witnessed the world premiere last Sunday.
The plays are complementary (and ably directed by Petkova) in that both are self-inspections of Gen Y in the arena of female mateship and clubbing. They are close to the bone because their geneses spring from Adelaide experience.
I haven't much guidance on Bang, so here goes. It begins with three young women of emo fashion in a somewhat violent dance-like tug; I subsequently made up the story that the play was about bullying. The trio are bitchy according to the old adage - familiarity breeds contempt. One of the girls stands out as dominant - she makes choices between the others, and maybe being slimmer has something to do with it. Whatever, her higher status is found to be hollow. We see an isolated bunch with cultivated rules, and it’s easy to see how a perverse extension of this can lead to real danger; as seen in the second play, ego-less-ego-ist. With different characters, add alcohol-fueled muddled thinking, an overused social scene of unpleasantly repeating results, and a handgun. Both plays are well written in setting up the circumstances using realistic dialogue, and in building the tension to a point where resolution is demanded, and occurs with a twist. Black humour throughout.
The performances in these shows are rough around the edges, but edgy, and totally watchable. In Bang, Emma Kew, Suzannah Kenneth Lister and Louie Dempsey render easily identifiable images of what they see amongst their peers. Less yelling and more feeling would be appreciated. Kenneth Lister stands out in the first play for her character's controlling behaviour but also for a considerable amount of eyebrow acting. In ego-less-ego-ist, Kenneth Lister and Dempsey performed a balanced duo of shifting dominance which was exciting to watch. Set designer Bec Langman did all she could with a budget of $0.
A Go See for both the Gen Y this show is drawn from, and for those others who don't even know what's going on in their own city.
David Grybowski
When: 1 to 7 Mar
Where: The Crown and Anchor Hotel
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
