Spencer

It’s always incredible and maybe even a bit disconcerting to watch a piece with personalities that you feel you really know. The characters in Spencer are so keenly written that they felt immediately recognisable, especially if, like me, you come from a family of Aussie bogan sports nuts. This production gets everything spot on—the aesthetic complete with wood panelling and arches, dialogue that dances right over that fine line between Australian affectionate abuse and hurtful criticism, the mother in head to toe flowing orange linen and beads, even a certain casual attitude towards trousers and the necessity thereof—it’s all strikingly familiar.

The family is preparing to meet Spencer, the 2-year-old son of youngest son Scott. For various reasons, three siblings have moved back in to live with their mother, Marilyn. The youngest, pro-Aussie Rules player Scott (convincingly portrayed by Jamieson Caldwell) has never lived away from home. His brother Ben (in a wonderful performance by Lyall Brooks) is a failed footballer and now Auskick coach. When their pragmatic and sensible sister Julia (Fiona Harris, also excellent) arrives and asks to move back in, they immediately fall back into roles they established in childhood, with in-jokes, alliances and a clear pecking order. Having moved home, Ben has morphed into his teenage self, while Julia has made a succession of bad career and romantic choices. As the only member of the family apparently successful, Scott is feeling burdened by the weight of expectation from the family.

Matriarch Marilyn (played by the much-loved Jane Clifton) is a brilliant character. Bawdy, forthright, loud, offensive, she’s got no filter and sexist old-fashioned expectations. Clifton plays her with authenticity—she’s my mother and grandmother rolled into one. Long absent father Ian (Roger Oakley) gets away with bald-faced lies by articulating his well-crafted bullshit in a disarming softly-spoken manner.

Starting uproariously funny, the plot moves into more serious territory as we discover how the dysfunctions and difficulties of the family have affected each person in turn. The characters each have flaws but for the most part have the capacity for self-reflection, which gives them the ability to improve and gives some hope for the future. They’re all muddling through. Sharon Davis’s direction brings out the subtleties in the characters.

If you were raised in lower-middle class Australia or want an understanding of it, you should enjoy Spencer. It’s an affectionate but truthful portrayal, with quirks and foibles laid bare.

Cathy Bannister