The Adelaide Repertory Theatre. Arts Theatre. 17 Sep 2022
Playwright Debra Oswald has described Sweet Road as a road movie on stage. And so it is.
In a beautifully mounted production directed by Eric Strauts for The Rep, it is a charming piece of Australiana which, in itself, is a fresh and nourishing thing. Contemporary Australian theatre is thin on the ground. In this case, it is literally ground - the red heart of the country: desert plains, salt lakes, remote roads, river floods, and tough little country towns.
The stage is dominated by a straight country road ramped upwards to go on into the horizon forever. It is flanked by screens on which are projected art abstracts of the great Australian nothingness or slides of outback road houses or a caravan park. Those locations are occupied by performances on two dais stages. On ground level front-of-stage, car seats are trucked on and off, a bit noisily, to show the travellers within their vehicles. The Rep has managed to source different car seats for the assorted cars - from plush 4WD to old bomb with bench seats; one of many careful design details.
Among the occupants' various stories is that of Jo, (Cheryl Douglas), a shocked and embittered wife on the run after witnessing her husband’s infidelity as she is organising their 20th wedding anniversary. She befriends an ingenuous, selfie-taking hitchhiker (Sailor Tyler), who is on a quest to find her boyfriend up on a FIFO location. Jo subsequently hooks up with poor old Michael (Damien White) who is also on the run from grief, working as an outback soft drinks deliverer.
Then there is stressed mum Carla (Gabrielle Douglas) who, with two kids and the brown dog, are accompanying her well-intentioned, hyperactive, no-hoper husband Andy (Jackson Barnard) on a trip from Coober Pedy to somewhere in the green north where he believes life will be good. Their old bomb breaks down here and there, the country copper (Ash Merriel) wants to defect it, and they end up in a caravan park where recently widowed Frank (Malcolm Walton) is listlessly trying to complete the grand road trip he had planned with his wife.
The interactions of the travellers advance what are quite interesting and at times touching and dramatic narratives. Indeed, there is wonderful Aussie grist to the story mill which is played out in cinematic-style scenes. There are some beautifully committed performances and the set is award-worthy. It has all the makings of a five-star show, but the play needs tightening by a strong dramatic screwdriver. It wallows and reiterates here and there and, for all the happenings of its many characters and their adventures, it is ironic that what it lacks is pace.
Samela Harris
When: Closed
Where: The Arts Theatre
Bookings: Closed
