My Brilliant Career

Playwright Christine Davey takes Miles Franklin’s iconic novel and gives it a broadly comic, lively, near vaudevillian treatment – and adds a perspective and a context.  She puts the author, (Stella) Miles Franklin (Madelaine Swain) on stage as an external narrator, an older woman looking back at her novel and its heroine, Sybylla (Molly England).  Author Miles is aware of Sybylla’s naiveté but proud of her resilience, courage, recalcitrance, and, at some lovely and touching moments, becomes her helper, and protector.  And why not?  Sybylla, after all, is the eighteen-year-old Miles.

Briefly, but enough, there’s the historical context as well. The politics of My Brilliant Career are assertively feminist, if perhaps jejune, and Davey locates the novel, published in 1901, as in keeping with the time of suffragette agitation.  There’s a nod of acknowledgement in putting fearless campaigner Vida Goldstein (Lanny Ryan) on stage too.  Miles Franklin’s restless travels – despite her nationalism – to the US in 1906, England in 1915, war service 1917-19 and return to Australia in 1932 – are noted and suggested by the many suitcases that are part of Davey’s design.

As director, however, Davey’s intention seems to be to tell a longish story as something high energy, fast moving, a bright-n-breezy entertainment, but she might push this approach too far.  It does not always serve her text as well as it might.  Some of the time the stage is awfully busy – and busy for busy’s sake.  Much rushing about seems quite unconnected with the narrative – and that gets tiring over more than ninety minutes.  We are also told far more than we are shown here – that is, the cast, at times too loudly, too emphatically and often in contrapuntal style, narrates Sybylla’s story. 

It’s almost a relief when they are allowed to be characters who interact.  All the cast, bar two, are required to play multiple roles – and not all are quite as successful as they might be in distinguishing one character from another – although Dom Westcott does well as tongue-tied and moving Harry Beecham, and Mary Steuten is very good as Sybylla’s soured aunt Helen,.  Ryan Tracey, who also supplies brief linking guitar interludes, plays two versions of stupid in an amusing way, but most successful is Paula Kontelj as the regal Granny and the perpetually dazed and pregnant Mrs Swat.

In the midst of all this is Molly England. Obviously, she is Sybylla, the main character, but she is also the lynchpin of this production.  It is hard to believe, as the program tells us, that this is her first professional role because she is simply wonderful.  We don’t see a contemporary girl pretending to be eighteen in 1898.  This is an intelligent, detailed and completely convincing ‘period’ performance – in appearance, manner, and speech.  Her Sybylla is a rebel but located firmly in her late 19^th century time.  Molly England is funny, sweet, and manages to keep us onside even when Sybylla is at her most self-centred, whining, and irritating.  She is a very good reason to see this somewhat flawed but entertaining production.

After a couple of cancellations, this My Brilliant Career is finally here – but only for three performances.  Ridiculous.  Let us hope that it can come back, be revived.  The text, with its take on this famous novel and its time is highly intelligent, but it could be presented with a little more light-and-shade – that is, with a little more confidence in itself. 

Michael Brindley

Photographer: Darren Gill