★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Safari Street Creative. The Holden Street Theatres. 23 Feb 2022
Off with the heads of the dominant patriarchy! At least that’s what the daughter thinks. The action opens with parents Chris and Kate angsty-busy on their phones, tolerating a waiting room, delving out political diatribe and trading withering repartee worthy of David Williamson or West Wing. Don’t try to grope for the details, the gist of it will get you by. Actors Spencer Scholz and Samantha Riley exude who they play; Chris is a political leader in government and Kate is the party’s campaign manager. They have all the charm of snakes. But while Scholz and Riley only just got engaged, Chris and Kate are a confusing and messed up un-coupling. And they have been called into the school to deal with their daughter’s mischief. But we learn it is they who should have their hands slapped.
In this world premiere, playwright Spencer Scholz parrots the claptrap and cliches we’ve come to expect from these shallow characters but he creatively entangles politics with poor parenting, and amply shows how destructive are the party games of their work lives when turned on each other and applied to their daughter. The play takes on a fistful of social and political issues and is very sophisticated for a new writer. It is biting satire with nifty phrases, like “do you want to be right or do you want to win?” as Chris and Kate assess and reassess the pros and cons, and the core of what they do. Yet the actors rip through the script, shout and trounce on some nuance. So many potent moments deserve more time and the dialogue dissolves into ugly bickering. Maybe there wasn’t a director as no director credit is given. But whoever was boss managed to turn a radio play into lively theatre with dynamic doses of movement and body language. Riley is especially watchable – she looks the part and Scholz generously gave her the best opportunities for character backgrounding and garnering audience sympathy for Kate.
The power parents are caught in the headlights of their political careers, and it doesn’t appear like anything will change, so sadly the Chris and Kate you saw at the beginning is what you get in the end. A tragi-comedy.
David Grybowski
When: 22 to 27 Feb
Where: The Holden Street Theatres
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
