American Beauty Shop

Powerful characterisation is the strength of Some Company’s production of the Australian premiere of American Beauty Shop.

Set in Cortez, Colorado in 2010, in a basement beauty parlour known as The Sugar Shack, American Beauty Shop tells the stories of five women aged 17 to 81. The play delves into their dreams and their struggles to escape the cycle of poverty. Sue and her assistant Meg have big plans for the beauty shop, however, the aftermath of the 2008 recession means that Sue is struggling to keep her business afloat and balance the future of her daughter, Judy, who has a chance of getting out of the small town. Sue also feels responsible for her younger sister, Doll, who is battling her own demons.

The play explores the true cost of dreams, the joys and pain of familyhood and how life can change in an instant. Director Anna McGrath says, “whilst the story is set in 2010 in America there are many parallels with contemporary Australian society – the economic divide between big cities and rural towns; the cynicism about the state of politics; the impact of big chains on small business: it is clear that these things are not uniquely American problems. Brining the Australian premiere of this play to a Sydney stage gives us the opportunity to consider how it reflects our current situation”.

Charmaine Bingwa (Meg), Caitlyn Curley (Judy), Jill McKay (Helen), Amanda Stephens Lee (Sue) and Janine Watson (Doll) all deliver performances that are very real. The tension between Sue and Doll is particularly powerful and I commend Amanda and Janine on an emotive and poignant performance.

Having never been to the KX Theatre before, I loved this quaint and intimate theatre space and the way the director used a traverse stage - where the audience sits on two sides of the theatre space and watches everything from a side on view. You would think with this kind of staging that you would see quite a bit of the actors backs, but I didn’t really notice this as the performers moved around and engaged with the audience and it definitely added to the intimacy. One part of the stage had two plastic shower curtains hanging on a rod. These did have a purpose, but weren’t used until right at the very end of the play and only for a very short time, but I found they often hindered my view of the performers. I felt that the staging for this part of the show could have been done slightly differently to avoid having to use the curtains at all.

I took a fellow theatre lover to see this play and we both could see the work that has gone into this show and felt it deserves a bigger audience. I hope that this review gives it the promotion it deserves and encourages others to go and see it. While it is a tragic story there are some comedic moments and the play offers two different outcomes at the end. It is a performance that has stayed with me since seeing it.

Shannon O’Connell

Photographer: Clae Hawley.