Detroit

At first it seems like a farce, an American version of a Ray Cooney play about funny neighbours. But playwright Lisa D’Amour and Director Tanya Dickson quickly put that concern to bed. The play isn’t even set in Detroit – that town is just the metaphor for the crumbling of American Society, a malaise which alienates and disenfranchises its citizens. Ghosts abound in the ether to remind us that this motor metropolis had a thriving past, though it has no future. Dreams hold more weight than reality, and perceptions are skewed to see what we want to see.

Mary and Ben are decidedly middle class….Mary has a responsible job but is an alcoholic. Ben has been retrenched and is pretending to build a financial advisor website, whilst all the while living a second life in an online community. They are a couple going through the motions, unwilling to live…or even face…their lives. Into the dilapidated house next door moves a couple from rehab, Kenny and Sharon, and Mary and Ben invite them to a barbecue and all four lives are changed.

Lisa L’Amour’s writing is sometimes biting and crisp, and often subtextual. She handles the dark underbelly and black comedy well, but she’s sometimes sloppy with character, and individual arcs. Nevertheless, though it’s not John Patrick Shanley, she provides a distinct voice in contemporary playwriting.

Tanya Dickson is a relatively new and immensely interesting Director. She uses symbolism sparingly, and only when the text cries out for it. She’s confident in her blocking and eliciting performances from her cast, but she hasn’t overcome the occasional wobble in the text. When Sharon makes her earnest speech about the death of “neighbourly” society, it’s a sledgehammer. We have already quickly gleaned this and the speech might have had more impact if it was casual and thrown away rather than attacked to make a point. Overall though she embraces the idea of perceptions – the dichotomy between what is endured, and what is yearned for.

Performances are strong, as you expect from Red Stitch. Acting honours go to Ngaire Dawn Fair, who seems to get better with every new production. She inhabits the skin of the recovering junkie Sharon, as though it’s been tailor-made for her. She manages to be endearing and edgy simultaneously, vulnerable but always with the threat…or promise…that there’s much more going on than you are privy to. When dialogue becomes expositional, she somehow validates it.

Brett Cousins is impressive as Kenny, trying to build a life for himself and Sharon in a house no better than a squat, without a skerrick if furniture. We feel for them, connect with them, even though they are, as Sharon tells us “White Trash”. Still, they have a dream – a small dream that doesn’t seem that unachievable

Paul Ashcroft makes Ben an everyman, slightly dorky in his polo shirts, and always ready to barbecue if the conversation gets too deep or hard. He’s totally natural and credible throughout, but there’s another Ben locked inside.

Sarah Sutherland is stuck with Mary….a character so overdrawn that it’s hard to empathise with her, even though she does provide most of the OTT comedy. It’s more a case of under-developed writing than over-played performance… she is a much better actor than this role allows her to be. Often Mary seems to be embedded in TV sitcom, no fault of the actor.

As the lives of the four disintegrate, largely because of their interaction, the writer introduces a new character for the last ten minutes of the play in what is essentially an epilogue to tie up any loose ends. Chris Wallace is beautiful as Frank, an old man who has been a resident of the neighbourhood since the first houses were built over 40 years earlier. Basically, though, this coda is both clunky and cheesy as Frank piles on the exposition about his family and the neighbourhood and the fantasy perfection of a world that will not come again. 

The set and lighting by Matthew Adey  - House of VNHoly – are excellent, as is Russell Goldsmith’s soundscape; and the audio visual content by Michael Carmody is a welcome component to create a sense of fluidity.

This is another highly entertaining production from the one company we can count on to always bring us great theatre and a satisfying night out.

Coral Drouyn

Images: (top) Sarah Sutherland & Ngaire Dawn Fair, (middle) Ngaire Dawn Fair and (lower) Sarah Sutherland, Ngaire Dawn Fair, Brett Cousins & Paul Ashcroft. Photographer: Jodie Hutchinson.