Pre-drinks

Pre-drinks
By Lewis Treston. Artslink Queensland. Teneriffe, Brisbane. Director: Danielle Carney. 8 – 17 May, 2014.

Experimental Theatre is alive and well in Brisbane. Pre-drinks is the third such play I have seen this year; the second by this playwright, and director Danielle Carney did justice to the piece. Pre-drinks was workshopped on the Gold Coast in March.

Set in a flat shared by Alistair (Sean Curran), a messed-up drug dealer and his drinking buddy Paul (Luke Constable), who appears to be comfortable cross-dressing and a rotation of transient flatmates, Pre-drinks relates to the ritual the guys go through prior to a night on the town and encompassing anyone in the flat at the time. The current third party is conservative 18-year-old Kate (Sarah Stafford) and tonight’s celebration is in honour of old school friend Ruby (Emily Carr) who has just returned from a few years in Melbourne – where she changed her name but not her wildly wicked ways!

As with any ritual, there is a “prescribed” routine to be followed: depending on what space Alistair’s mind is inhabiting at the time; this includes whatever liquid refreshments are on hand and the occasional pill or two.

What ensues is a degrading display of debauchery.

The cast delivered strong characterizations working as a tight knit team which seemed to be magnified in the small space in which the cast and audience were encased.

Roger McKenzie

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