Til Divorce

Waiting for access into La Mama Courthouse Theatre, a fellow patron articulated the situation perfectly: “I feel really awkwardly placed”.  Shoulders weren’t the only thing touching in the crowded foyer as the audience monitored a clock that ticked over to 6:40pm. 

Finally we were permitted to enter the marriage dead zone that is the concept behind “Til Divorce”; the inaugural production by newly formed theatre company Thorny Devil Theatre.  Written by newbie playwright Tahnee Jones, and directed by Thorny Devil Theatre founder Eben Rojter, the play is described as “a quirky exploration of a truly incompatible couple”. 

A newly married couple battle it out for the title of “Worst Spouse Ever”.  Nine months and twelve days into marriage, Amy (Sarah Breen) and Adam (Jacob Pruden) are ready to call it quits.  The audience can see why: Amy is sullen and Adam is immature.  Neither possess empathy.  Neither seem to care about their state of matrimony.  Amy sums it up: “I don’t feel the same way about you as I once did.  I’d like a divorce please”.   

She says this stage left, on the living room side of the stage.  Stage right is made up of two tables and five chairs; presumably for an upcoming restaurant scene.  It’s a set that works for the cast of seven, with appropriate, perhaps slightly dim, lighting to match.

As the couple ponder the termination of their vows, the audience is taken on a backwards journey of their unhappy marriage.  Director Rojter uses newspapers, tablecloths, mats, menu listings and a banner to establish the context.   Eight months, twenty-four days married, then seven months, fifteen days married, then five months married, and so on.  We are eventually taken back in time to the wedding of Mr Adam and Mrs Amy, whose vows serve to illustrate irony and naivety. 

Each scene provides a clue that proffers where things started to go wrong.  Only important events are recalled: a troubling dinner with a family friend; a forgotten birthday; a work commitment. 

The concept is terrific, boasting loads of potential, however the play’s execution is doubtful.  For one, we don’t know anything about the characters – except that they’re married.  Surely they have goals, fears, loves and hates, to name a few.  Rule of thumb: if I don’t know anything about the characters, I won’t care about the characters.  By extension I won’t care about their strife.

The scenes also aren’t developed.  Just as an opportunity arises for writer Jones to sink her teeth into some good old fashioned conflict, a blackout comes about to bade farewell to the current time and transport us to a new, probably also under-developed, destination.  As the play’s duration totalled 45 minutes, there was plenty of time to dig deeper.

This worrying narrative decision suggests that Jones is not married herself.  Only a wife (such as my theatre-going companion) would have the material required to properly explore “a truly incompatible couple” and their quest to live happily ever after.  Only an outsider looking in skims the surface.  Thus I suggest rule of thumb #2: write what you know. 

Amy’s bogan friends (Carolyn Butler, Madeleine Stewart and Debbie Govorcin) exist to add humour, and break up the intensity.  Instead the three girls add further frivolity.  However I quite enjoyed some palpable envy from one friend, through lines such as, “The ugly duckling finally becomes a swan” (wedding scene), and a book title, “Life’s Too Short To Be Fat” (birthday scene).  Again, this toxic relationship was one to be explored and developed.  Same goes for the family friend, husband-stealing Chelsea (Joanne Redfearn). Don’t wet our appetites if you haven’t the goods to back it up.

Breen and Pruden do the best they can with the material presented to them.  The standout of the production was the creative transitions, which the audience revelled in.  ‘How will he do it this time?’ was the general enquiry, and we were never disappointed.  The major downside: the lack of energy.  This was opening night!  In future cast, jump on the sport twenty times chiming “energy, energy, energy, energy”, and you’ll be ready to go.

Oh, and regarding not knowing anything about the characters, I just remembered we were privy to some information: Amy is a vegetarian and likes dolphins. 

Tammy Shmerling