Four Places

Generational change does not necessarily bring change…

FOUR Places premiered at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theatre and this Sydney premiere is produced by the Outhouse Theatre, a company formed in 2006 to showcase Australian artists in New York. The Sydney season is cleverly directed by Nicholas Hope and intensely performed by a cast of four very capable actors. It’s about a family in turmoil; a brother and sister are facing big decisions about future living arrangements for their parents and they take mother to lunch to discuss. The action all takes place either in the restaurant or the daughter’s car. When we enter the theatre the first thing we face is a very clever set from Tom Bannerman. An elevated platform on stage contains a rotating disk which holds a construction simulating both a motor vehicle with three seats on one side and a restaurant table and three chairs on the other. One of the chairs surprisingly flips to service both parts of the set. This ingenious construction enables most of the action to be contained within the central area of the tiny Tap Gallery auditorium, with occasional moves into peripheral spaces for rest room breaks. The fluidity of this set serves to keep the narrative flowing rapidly, but it does mean that the physicality of the action is diminished. Most of the play consists of dense dialogue delivered seated. So whilst this tale is well delivered by four excellent actors, it is very static and might well be better produced as a radio play or a film (where the imagination or the editing and SFX can add the action).

This story involves a Pinteresque battle between two generations of a family, with the highly manipulative mother, Peggy (the incredibly experienced and polished Kim Hillas) continually exerting her dominance over her tightly focused and stoic daughter Ellen (the powerful Amanda Stephens Lee) and her deeply fractured son (the wild man Jeremy Waters).

The story is part chess game and part bloody warfare. The siblings are terrified of trying to take control of their warring and deeply bonded parents and dimly aware that maybe they may contain the same traits that so unsettle them. They all live in different physical worlds, but they are never far apart emotionally. The creepy waitress, Barb (the brilliantly screwball Briony Williams), provides periodic respite from the warzone with her highly inappropriate behaviour towards her patrons. So whilst Barb is very, very funny, she does seem to have escaped from the front desk of Fawlty Towers.

Director Nicholas Hope and his cast maintain the power and tempo of this work and designer Tom Bannerman makes it work well in a difficult space. The skilled cast fully inhabit their characters and bring this story to life. Don’t miss it.

Stephen Carnell

Credits

Director: Nicholas Hope

Set Designer: Tom Bannerman

Lighting Designer: Rachel Smith

Sound Designer: Peter Neville

Stage Manager: Cara Woods & Eden Fordham