Camp

The Ensemble has brought a varied palette of well-written plays to the Sydney theatre scene this year, and Camp is no exception. But, unlike more serious and thought-provoking productions, this is a rollicking situation-type comedy that is so very typically Australian and yet universal in its appeal.

What else could one expect of a play that takes three couples to a crowded beach campsite in the heat of an Australian Christmas? The cast of six – Ben Ager, Jennifer Corren, Michelle Doake, Jamie Oxenbould, Karen Pang and David Terrey – under the direction of Mark Kilmurry (and assistant director, Katie Fitchett) have obviously had a ball working on Gary Baxter’s very funny and perceptive play.

The design team has captured the essence of Baxter’s setting and Kilmurry’s vision. Anna Gardiner’s set creates the scene. A stretch of worn grass is framed by a dusty old camper van with a makeshift annex and a backdrop of tents and low she-oaks under a high sky. Here, Matthew Marshall’s lighting creates atmospheric changes in time and mood, from the harsh bright blue of December daytime, to an impending storm, to moonlight and a soft, creeping summer dawn. Daryl Wallis has had fun with the sound as well. Birdsong, thunder, wind, the loud ‘doof doof’ stereo of other campers and foot-tapping interlude music surround the audience and make them part of the scene.

The play opens with laid-back Danny (Ben Ager) relaxing in the sun on the camp site he has ‘bagged’ for late arrivals, Maggie (Michelle Doake) and Jack (David Terry), who enter, hot and angry after eight hours in holiday traffic. They are new campers. They don’t work well together. He really doesn’t want to be there at all. She is frustrated. He drinks too much. As they try to set up their tent, insults and accusations fly – and the audience identifies with every word!

These two actors set the comic scene, and sustain the tight energy of these first moments throughout the play, even when they are hidden from sight in the tent at night. They are incredibly real – and they deliver their lines with fast pace and perfect comic timing. Michelle Doake’s facial expressions and body language accentuate her character and raise many laughs – especially as she gives in to the ‘doof doof’ music and begins to dance.

Julie (Jennifer Corren) and Peter (Jamie Oxenbould) are the antithesis of Maggie and Jack. Because Peter is a control freak, they are always totally organised. He knows where everything is, doesn’t forget anything and times their life to the minute – which is pretty frustrating for Julie, though it creates some wonderfully funny moments in the play. Oxenbould makes the most of Peter’s character. His walk, his facial expressions, his pompous delivery and his perfectly timed reactions find every comic aspect of the character and his lines.

Danny and his wife Cynthia (Karen Pang) couldn’t be more different to their friends. Both are totally laid back. He’s a happy stay-at-home husband. Her income covers the mortgage and expenses. They are relaxed in their relationship – and don’t mind sharing the odd joint. Ager and Pang enjoy the contrast of their characters  – and they play off the other characters with telling looks and asides that add a sting to the comedy.

There are lots of laughs in this play, but there are introspective moments as well. As well as capturing the foibles of the characters and the discord in their relationships, Baxter adds a few quieter moments, when for instance, Danny and Jack fantasise about three young girls in another tent on the campsite; and when Jack and Julie soliloquise, at the same time, about each of their spouses. Their sentiments are juxtaposed in fragments to the audience, but they are not listening to each other. This is a nice little scene that shows a greater depth and more warmth to each of these characters.

There is a lot of action in this play, and the thrust ensemble stage is small and intimate, but Kilmurry knows it well, and apart from one or two scenes where sight lines from the sides of the theatre might be frustrating, he has directed the action to be fast and as continuously ‘in-the-round’ as possible. His perceptive direction, Baxter’s dialogue and the talent and experience of the actors make for some very funny scenes, none more so than a part ‘off stage’ scene where the men try to save a gazebo that is being blown away.

Wind howls and blows from under the stage, flapping clothes on a washing line; the women scream downstage as they describe Peter being carried away with the gazebo; the men shout from behind the audience as they try to catch him. From the turmoil, Peter emerges unhurt and exhilarated –for the first time he has done something totally unplanned! Danny emerges the hero who has caught Peter. Everyone, including the audience, is relieved and happy! And Kilmurry captures this in a very cute and effective curtain call.

There was a real buzz as the audience left the theatre – a sure fire sign that this play is going to be as enjoyable for audiences, as it seems to be for its very hard working and talented cast.

Carol Wimmer

Photographer: Natalie Boog.