Contest

Is this a play by a poet or is it a staged poem by a playwright? Melbourne-based writer Emilie Collyer presents evidence from both sides in this intriguing piece brought to life with great force by a lively 5-woman company under Kirsty Semaan’s watchful direction. By the end, I’d say it’s a two-way bet between poem and play.

As they gather for a practice session (or possibly a match) on an indoor netball court, the five dispirit members of our team exchange greetings and chatter. The Goal Attack (Willa King) is in charge, pushing the others into formation.

The Goal Attack (Melissa Jones), a teacher, is worried by her loss of youth but ploughs on. The Centre (Suz Mawer) seems continually confused about what she is saying . A newcomer to the group, Wing Attack (Lana Morgan), confident and self-assured, retires into the audience when things get too difficult.

Goal Defence (Emma Monk), who navigates the space seamlessly with her wheelchair, seems not to fit into this group, but she trains and is part of the team. There’s certainly no doubt that the women all train really hard, picking up a bunch of sweats as they go. 

There’s a ton of gossip mixed with searingly intimate revelations in this highly intelligent, deeply felt feminist play.

But it’s not believable that this bunch would ever play netball together, despite their sweating and, when Willa King decides to pull the whole team out before a scheduled game is halfway through, nobody complains. The play ends on a mournful note with poetic statements from the cast.

Kirsty Semaan has put every bit of herself into directing this play, along with Movement Director Amelia Pawsey. The Sound/Composer is Charlotte Leamon and Lighting on the difficult Flight Path open stage is by Theo Carroll.

Frank Hatherley

Photographer: Phil Erbacher