Trevor

Bravo Red Stitch! No other theatre company brings us contemporary plays, never seen before in Australia, with such depth and scope. Trevor is a delight from start to finish – though there will be some who fear that the ending might be that of the true story that inspired the play, where a pet chimp named Travis went rogue and mutilated its owner.

There are no such extremes in Trevor. It is written, and played, as an offbeat comedy – but with a serious subtext and questions for the audience which leave us discussing the play over coffee or red wine (or even Milo) long after we leave the theatre.

So, suspending disbelief, Trevor is a chimp, but Jones has written him as a down and out, moderately talented, actor in Hollywood whose big moment has come and gone and who is bitter that true stardom eluded him. He lives with his ‘mother’ in a suburban house where he is bored and fills the time stealing her car and terrorising the neighbours, between phone calls to his agent, watching television, and throwing his mother’s precious souvenirs all over the place. He is part man, part child – in short, pretty much any mediocre Hollywood actor - a sad failure living life behind a mask.

Rory Kelly is a gift as Trevor. It takes no more than a few minutes to convince us that he is a chimp…the loping gait, picking up things with his toes (even autographing his fan photos that way), baring his gums, climbing furniture; yet we understand the frustration, the insecurity that lies beneath. We feel for Trevor even as we laugh at the antics, much as we would on a trip to the zoo. It’s a stellar piece of acting, particularly as the simian actor clings to his moment of fame, making a TV pilot with Morgan Fairchild (beautifully played by Angela Kennedy). He’s heart-breaking as he tells us plaintively that the town named a sandwich after him, and now wants to disown him because he’s no longer cute.

As Sandra, his ‘mother’, Andrea Swifte gives a perfectly measured and layered performance – balancing genuine love for her child with desperate selfishness. She’s lonely, and Trevor is all she has. It’s poignant and always believable – her dilemma is both moral and emotional.

Dion Mills once again brings charisma to the stage as Oliver, an older chimp who has played by the rules and reaped the benefits, a home in Florida, a human wife and half human children! Pretentious, and condescending – with an air of ennui – and dressed in a white tail-coat (which is NOT a Tuxedo), Mills is quite brilliant, but that’s no more than we have come to expect over the years,

Eva Seymour is this year’s Red Stitch graduate, and she is the neighbour who fears for her baby’s safety with a wild animal living next door. Seymour is full of promise, but often seems to confuse projecting with shouting, and that is disconcerting. No doubt she will develop more finesse with a few more plays under her belt.

Veteran Andrew Gilbert as the sympathetic cop Jim, who has known Trevor since he was a baby, and Kevin Haufbauer, as the animal welfare officer, both contribute to the credibility of the play.

Denis Moore directs with skill and bravery. At times the action appears shambolic but that’s because we’re seeing this world through a Chimp’s eyes. He takes, or allows Kelly to take, wild physical liberties with Adrienne Chisholm’s suitably middle class set, but always goes for the king-hit in the emotional subtext.

The most beautifully realised scenes are those where Sandra and Trevor converse, each believing the other fully understands what is being said, while not really grasping the meaning. The moment where Sandra has to put Trevor in his ‘kennel’, a cage far too small for any mobility, is tragic for both.

This is a play about humanity, and alienation. It explores central questions about the keeping of animals in captivity, the expectations placed on us by others, whether ‘normal’ equates to ‘right’, the nature of love, the fear of inadequacy. It is deep and masterful piece of theatre from a skilled writer. The trick of wrapping serious questions in sugar coated comedy is not new, but rarely has a writer handled it better than Nick Jones. And Red Stitch has handled the play beautifully, with love and commitment. It’s their best offering this year and, if we gave stars, it would be a four star must see.

Coral Drouyn

Photographer: Jodie Hutchinson.