Activating the Dead White Pelvis

Activating the Dead White Pelvis
By Geoffrey Williams. Director: Peta Hanrahan. Stage Verve. Revolt Arts Space – Melbourne Fringe Festival. Sept 26th – Oct 7th, 2012.

The Melbourne Fringe Festival is upon us again. That means alternative theatre from the sublime to the ridiculous, and everything in between. It also, in this case, provides a showcase for the students from Verve studios, which is, apparently “Melbourne’s premiere centre for actor training.”

Geoffrey Williams’ play Activating the Dead White Pelvis is, in spite of its pretentious title, a gritty and challenging drama about those at risk in the sex industry in Melbourne. It suffers a little from the passages of time (it was first performed in 1995, and the world has changed greatly in 17 years) but still has sufficient edge to be relevant. Someone is brutally killing sex workers and the police round up those who may be at risk, in the hope of tracking down the killer. That’s the basis for this one hour play which, with a little opening up in some areas, could provide a fascinating ABC teleplay in the thriller genre, or – with a second act (the material is there to be tapped) as a full length play for a much broader stage. As it stands, it is quite heavily laden with plot – most of which happens off-stage – although all the nuances are there in untapped subtext (and sometimes in text) for a stunning character exploration piece, and that’s where its strengths should lie.

Director Peta Hanrahan has put more emphasis on the “plot “ angle – and the result is not always satisfying. Whilst lip-service is paid to WHO these characters are, I was longing for some insight as to WHY they are. A glaring example is the character of Olivia. Clearly better dressed, with more taste and refined education (EG:- She correctly uses grammar, the others do not) there was nothing in the direction to tantalise us or make us question why sex workers are not always the hopeless, the victims, the drug addicts. Much of the dialogue throughout is high pitched, screamed profanities, which lose any impact after the first five minutes. Projection by the actors is a concern in the quieter moments, but, despite its softer, more introspective interactions, it is not a production to indicate the true range of these actors, some of whom showed real promise.

Luke Rogers as Helene, the trannie prostitute who knows how to handle her life and still show empathy to those who don’t, is a stand out. He has clearly worked hard to get inside Helene’s skin and understand what makes her tick. I shall watch his career path with interest. Aaron Milroy as the much used and abused rent boy Brett  (whose partner has been murdered) has some interesting moments, but relies too much on technique and not enough on the truth of emotion. Hayley Birch (Olivia) has real stage presence and promise and Brooke Bosely (Camille) is a gorgeous looking girl, but has a problem  with projection when she isn’t yelling. I barely heard any of her most important lines. Ben O’Connor (Detective Harris) gives a nicely balanced performance and the remaining cast are more than competent in their roles.

Performed in the loading dock of Revolt (Arts Space), the opening of the back doors allows for the novelty of a real car (police) to be driven into the space, a definite “wow” moment. Unfortunately the loading dock doors stuck from then on, a mechanical disaster which turned out to be a blessing as the novelty was clearly meant to be repeated several more times, but the car couldn’t get through. Like the screamed dialogue, repeat performances would simply have lessened the impact.

It was my first visit to Revolt and it’s a fabulous place. You can even get tacos and a glass of good white to wash down the theatrical offerings and there’s live music and even puppetry to make your evening worthwhile. If you haven’t been there before, perhaps this play is the excuse you’ve been looking for.

Coral Drouyn

Image: (left to right) Ben O'Connor and Luke Rogers. Photographer: Jaklene Vukasinovic.

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