Space Theatre. State Theatre Company of SA and Hothouse Theatre. 12 May 2015
Like Fin Kruckenmeyer, Vivienne Walshe has emerged as a poet among contemporary Australian playwrights.
This is Where We Live is an uncompromisingly literary work, a play of well-penned thoughts and vivid turns of phrase. It rings with short, sharp sentences, poetic riffs, delicious reiterations, rhymes, onomatopoeia...
It really does not need the dramatic set of urban derelictions, the fancy-pants lighting, or the atmospheric music, albeit they are all very well rendered by State Theatre and Hothouse Theatre creative team.
It just needs actors.
Its plot describes teen love. Chloe and Chris are outsiders. They share unhappy home lives and discomfort in the school environment. She has a gammy leg and a dysfunctional family. He is a sensitive boy who suffers from being the headmaster's son. Despite, or maybe because of, their differences, they establish a bond which is as ill-fated as Romeo and Juliet. But this play's influence is said to be the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. Chloe, from the wrong side of the tracks, is she of the underworld, luring her Orpheus to her side.
Hence, with these broad cultural references, this play fits into an educational repertoire and is headed for a regional tour.
The many young in the opening night audience responded to the production with obvious excitement. They might not have recognised the Joycean tenor of some of the script, but they were loving it. Perhaps, also, they were still close to the raw and tender emotions of teens. Beautiful Chloe, despite her handicap and a miserable past, holds all the sexual and emotional power over Chris. Chris is the innocent, a tender, vulnerable boy very easily hurt by female caprice. This imbalance is as old and as common as time itself.
As Chloe, Matilda Bailey has a torrent of uninterrupted dialogue with which to set the scene. They're not the easiest lines in the world to deliver and director Jon Halpin might have steered her to some different emphases in some of the complex descriptives. She is a very strong and engaging young actor, but hers is the hardest task with all those wondrous words emerging from a brittle character. James Smith, on the other hand, has the gift of fluidity and the more erudite character to evoke. It's a lovely performance. Together, they produce some deeply touching moments and some interestingly at-odds ones.
We've all seen this storyline in myriad forms through the years. It's classic. But the Walshe way with words and the commentary on Australian small town values place This is Where We Live in a class of its own.
Samela Harris
When: 12 to 16 May
Where: Space Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au
Touring until June 3
