Between Us

If playwright Joe Hortua’s scenario is to be believed, neither pursuing idealistic, artistic dreams, or compromising and selling out to commercialism is likely to bring much happiness.

Two arts college friends, and their partners, share significant history, but have gone down very different paths. Now, they meet some later.

Jennifer Don and her strong Ensemble Theatre cast work effectively to portray as self-obsessed a quartet of American 30-somethings as you’d quite happily never meet.

There’s plenty to entertain, too, though mainly it’s in the first half.

One pair (he’s gone corporate) is in suburban relationship meltdown. When Caroline Craig initially holds back, then lets loose with her pent-up fury as Sharyl, her performance is a sizzling treat. Though it’s more like open warfare, there really seems to be more passion going on in her relationship with Joel (Damian de Montemas), than the cloying newly-wed bliss of Grace (Catharine Cullen) and Carlo (Ben Mortly), still pursuing creative dreams in Manhattan.

There’s a reversal in Act 2, though it’s all a bit too structurally tidy and convenient. No surprise – the dysfunctional couple in Act 1, always more interesting than the too perfect bliss of their friends, are suddenly converted to hard to believe bliss, while the wheels have fallen off the creative dream and domestic bliss for their friends.

Sadly, when Caroline Craig converts to domestic bliss during intermission, the fun is mostly over. Even though the reversal has its cracks, nothing is really sparking in Act 2.

Has playwright Josh Hortua deliberately written a play about people who we’d never empathise with, and asked us to examine this selfish slice of contemporary society. In the end, even ‘generosity’ becomes an act of ego amongst these un-engaging characters.

There are deft touches of direction from Jennifer Don, the orchestration of overlapping dialogue being just one illustration. American accents, though aren’t consistently maintained. The set design allows for an effective intermission transformation between the play’s two settings.

There’s a lot on show about what makes these contemporary American relationships and friendships tick – or not? And there are no tidy resolutions. In the end, though, no matter how convincingly the Ensemble cast portrays this group, I never care much about these people or questions that are being asked.

Neil Litchfield

Image: Caroline Craig and Damian de Montemas in Between Us. Photographer