The Way Things Work

When you have a fine and intelligent two hander script, and two mature actors at the top of their game, there is no greater pleasure than a night at the theatre.

Red Stitch launches its 2017 season with an absolute cracker of a production, possibly the best in several years. The play might have been written for the venue (but it wasn’t), so perfectly does it fit the space.

Fennessy is one of those gifted writers (and a multi award winner) who understands that plot is nowhere near as important as how characters react to plot, to drive storytelling forward. His 90 minute play – ostensibly three separate satirical explorations of character inter-action within the framework of the one plot point – a Royal Commission over the use of inferior concrete in the building of a Ring Road tunnel – is both chillingly real and hilariously comic, but never less than enthralling. It is also contemporary, yet timeless, for the adage of  “power corrupts” has been pertinent since Greek philosophy was in its infancy, and so is fitting that the middle “act” of the play features Greek brothers.

With the writer also directing, this could have been a vanity piece. But Fennessy’s casting choices are as astute and classy as his dialogue and storytelling.

Many of us will have admired the work of Joe Petruzzi (now a Red Stitch Ensemble member) and Peter Houghton separately, but together on stage they are electrifying, and a veritable feast for lovers of fine acting. It’s the perfect marriage of text and performance.

Though plot only exists to serve character through interaction and reaction, Fennessy has deliciously allowed each vignette to follow a straight throughline and then flip it on its head with a twist that we don’t see coming. Throughout the first “act” where minister Patrick Barlow has his neck on the chopping block, with only his ‘mate’ Dench to save him, the laughs come thick and fast, even as we wince at the confronting corruption and compromises which often seem too close to home. It’s all Petruzzi, and what a meal he makes of the smarmy yet insidious minister who would throw his mate under a concrete truck to save his own arse. Petruzzi’s Barlow is fascinating and vile, and Houghton’s Dench gives breaks to the monologues and provides the sounding board for the audience to connect.

In “Act Two” we meet the two brothers responsible for the supply of the inferior concrete “Normal concrete…just not ‘special’ concrete”. Fennessy gives us quintessential Greek brothers - the roles are equally balanced between the actors, and there’s a connection between them that is always real, always convincing. It’s this credibility which makes the ultimate twist, an act of betrayal, so powerful. It also has some of the funniest lines….one brother comments on Ouzo…”It’s like being face-f##ked by a licorice allsort.” There are belly laughs to balance the intakes of breath and it’s a masterclass in performance. The third segment of the story is all Houghton in a wonderful and powerful display of his dramatic range. Chilling, pathetic, yet frightening, he sucks us into a world we all too often choose to close our eyes to. We are extraordinarily lucky to have Houghton’s gifts as actor, director and writer available to us in Melbourne.

With a simple but interesting white box set and costumes by Fennessy himself, and excellent lighting and sound by Matt Scott and Russell Goldsmith, this production is certain to feature heavily in this year’s theatre awards. Tickets will be hot, but the main reason for seeing it is because it epitomises the quest for excellence – and that’s what Red Stitch has made its name on.

Coral Drouyn

Photographer: Teresa Noble