ROOTED

The old ‘B’ is still going strong

Alex Buzo is a member of the pantheon of great Australian theatre writers, such as David Williamson, Louis Nowra and Ray Lawler. We tend to expect that, like good wine, theatre will improve over time. But maybe not, because a recent night out getting rooted by Alex Buzo’s wonderful language of Australia in the sixties was an amazing transfusion of abundance and charm that I haven’t experienced in Sydney theatre for a long time. The language is from four decades ago, delivered in a place that could be then or may be now. The style, costume and production design are clever enough to enable us to consider either option. Director Phil Rouse and Designer Anna Gardiner establish the where, when and how so well.

The play opens on a wild house warming party on the eve of the end of Bentley and Sandy failing marriage. Bentley thinks he has it all - like Australia in the late sixties. But during the course of the play his lack of insight into his true circumstances leads to embarrassment, humiliation and sorrow. Hubris bites. Like a Greek tragedy, our protagonist doesn’t know why the gods are raining these torments upon him. He’s an outstanding public servant, with super, and doesn’t deserve these burdens in his life. Bentley has a quirky ‘Yes Minister’ style of expression which makes him kind‘a cute, yet very annoying. His nemesis is the omnipotent Simmo, who is the demigod of this band of boys now grown into adults. Gary, one of Bentley’s old mates, is the King of the Cliché. Gary has nothing to say, and he says it constantly. Reminding us of the charming clichés and quirks of language from Australian urban life at a time often associated with turmoil and youthful revolutionary fervour. In Rooted, the young men and women are more concerned with their position in the social, sexual and economic pecking order – which is symbolised by the ubiquitous Simmo. All the cast are excellent, but George Bander has the plum role and he makes the most of it, delivering a delicious performance. We cannot help but care for this arrogant, petulant and foolish man who spends the play falling down a rabbit hole through a strange lost world. This production validates the need to revisit the great Australian writers because their themes and purpose are well crafted and eternal.

Stephen Carnell

Cast: George Banders, Niyat Berhan, Timothy Potter, Eloise Winestock, Bec Barbera.   

Images: (top) L-R: Niyat Berhan, George Banders & Bec Barbera; (middle) Bec Barbera and (lower) George Banders & Eloise Winestock. Photographer: Cybele Malinowski.