Soulmates

Soulmates
By David Williamson. St Jude’s Players. St Jude’s Hall, Brighton (SA). November 12-21, 2015.

David Williamson’s Soulmates exemplifies the cutting wit and bitingly humorous insights into human nature this most well-known of Australian playwrights infuses into all his works. However, like other plays that are presented through many scenes in multiple settings, such as Williamson’sTravelling North, Soulmates is certainly not an easy play to stage. It moves instantly and often between Melbourne and New York and from the Bahamas to Australia’s Hayman Island.

Adelaide’s St Jude’s Players do an ingenious job on a tiny stage to portray the play’s multiple settings, with the cast dealing well with the frequent costume changes. This helps ensure a well-paced production, with mostly seamless transition of scenes through the short, essentially linear episodes. Pace is particularly good in the second act.

Ex-pat Australian author Katie Best plans revenge when she hears at her base in New York that back home, Melbourne literary critic Danny O‘Loughlin has panned her popular novels as ‘airport trash’. He has declared that her books are not at all comparable in quality to the work of his favourite author, South African Max Van Niekerk. But will Katie's devious plan have unexpected consequences?

As is expected from Williamson, every character in Soulmates is believable, because they are all flawed. In fact, they reflect Williamson’s own painful experience with resentment by former friends and colleagues of his rise to fame and fortune through what was perceived by some as letting his writing give way to popular culture.

In setting his play in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, Williamson adds another dimension to his social comment, because he doesn’t shy away from an occasional irreverent, cutting and perhaps politically incorrect one-liner about aspects of the post event public reaction.

Debbie Walsh is a standout as Heather, wife of literary critic Danny, a woman who is clearly disillusioned with both her job as a finance advisor and with her marriage to Danny. Walsh develops the character’s vulnerability and wide-eyed infatuation with Max Van Niekerk extremely well. Brian Knott is also very good as book critic Danny, particularly as the character gradually grows to recognise his marriage to Heather is in trouble.

Joanne St Clair is terrific as effusive author Katie Best and grows louder and more crudely calculating as the story unfolds. Brian Godfrey develops the quietly long-suffering nature of Katie’s American husband Gordon well, although struggles to maintain the accent.

Georgia Stockham is excellent as Fiona and Barnaby Grant is also good as Greg. Andrew Horwood is a consistently excellent actor and once again produces a fine performance as South African writer, womaniser and ‘user’ Max Van Niekerk, even down to the accent.

Using St Jude’s audience as the audience for the writers’ forum scene and placing some actors in the auditorium for this, is a fine directorial touch by Mary-Jane Minear.

At first I thought the minimalist set that was visible as I entered the auditorium was rather basic. But then the walls moved. Lo and behold, as the action proceeded, a neatly perfect revolving set emerged, on which several worlds-apart’ settings were displayed and re-displayed. The action moved smoothly back and forth across the world. Congratulations to set designers Director Mary-Jane Minear, Don Oakley and Graham Chapman.

However, in the first act, the re-use without any prop/ furniture change of Danny and Heather’s comfortable book-filled Melbourne living room, with it suddenly becoming Fiona and Greg’s Manhattan hotel room, is briefly confusing for the audience. There could have been an alternative option on the other side of the stage, because I believe the setting there was not used until after interval.

Lighting and sound are each crisply achieved, complementing the good pace ensured by the directing, acting, set design and backstage work. Well done to all involved, particularly in view of the multiple scene changes.

Soulmates successfully rounds out a varied and high quality 2015 season for Adelaide’s St Jude’s Players.

Lesley Reed

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