Hope and Gravity

I love a good puzzle, who doesn’t? Galleon Theatre Group have chosen an ingenious play Hope and Gravity by Michael Hollinger for their May season that is a combination of Cluedo and a jigsaw puzzle and is sure to create conversation (maybe over a few drinks) amongst the audience at half time and at the conclusion.

The story is simple but the execution, creative. When an elevator crashes in a major city, nine lives intersect in surprising ways -- through love and sex, poetry and dentistry, in offices, homes, and hotel rooms.  Hope and Gravity traces the barely perceivable threads that connect us all.

Each scene functions as a self-contained scene but is also a single piece of a large puzzle with the play’s characters interacting on one level, with no idea that their lives are entwined with each other. Their lives intersect in surprising ways that are both comical and tragic.

There’s a sense of adventure chasing this plot; it’s always there somewhere ahead of you, and finally it reveals itself. The play features five talented actors, some in dual roles, as they lay out this story that happens in the past, or sometimes in the future, yet also in the present.

Director Kym Clayton sets his production in a kaleidoscopic set featuring an open playing space and the interior of an elevator ominously looming at centre back.

Each colour featured on the walls of the set is echoed on movable panels and furniture that frame each scene.

Clayton keeps the action flowing by choreographing the scene changes and using every centimetre of the Domain Theatre stage. He has carefully drawn nine completely different characters from five actors and extracted every nuance from the script.

His set design (with Trisha Graham) is complimented by James Allenby’s lighting, Tim Hall’s sound design & operation, Mary Cummins & Elaine Latcham’s props, and costumes by Trisha Graham & Sam Tutty.

Dora Stamos gives us a world-weary potential fiancé, waiting for her boyfriend to find the direction in his life (Barb), and an idealistic student of poetry (Jill). I loved her reactions in the scene with Steve, when presented with an empty engagement ring box.

John Koch gives us Marty, the repairman who dispenses worldly wisdom, and Douglas, the English Professor, one of the victims of the elevator crash. His scenes with Steve and Jill trying to piece his memory back together using poetry are both hysterical and touching.

Mark Drury gives us Peter, the pathological liar using aversion therapy, and Hal who believes he has a rash on his chest that resembles the Virgin Mary. Both scenes are fun, all laughs and played with perfect timing.

Nathan Brown plays Steve with sincerity and honesty, ensuring that every laugh is nailed while still being true to the character. I particularly enjoyed the way he gently helps Douglas with his poetry.

Mari Nield gives us Nan, the school nurse who is having an affair and trying to juggle two lives at once, and Tanya, who’s trying to get pregnant only to be let down by Hal who is supposed to produce a sample for her doctor to test. Nield plays them both earnestly, with just the right touch of comedy.

Hope and Gravity is the thinking person’s play that will have you guessing, pondering, but most of all laughing.

Barry Hill OAM