The Last Five Years

Team Cathy? Or Team Jamie? Parker Productions has merch you can buy. There is also Team Moz. I am definitely team Moz.

Team Moz is a reference to beloved Hobart Musician Andrew Morrisby. Morrisby is on stage during this two-hander, effectively making it a three-hander. The piano is swathed in black and Morrisby does not interact with the cast but for those who love this rich score, Morrisby is as integral as Jamie and Cathy.

Morrisby covers all the cues usually supplied by the small string ensemble for which The Last Five Years (2001) is scored. The score is eclectic in style, ranging from rock to jazz, Latin to blues, and including Klezmer, classical and pop ballads. It is thematically rich with motifs heard in “Still hurting” (Cathy) reprising in the lyric “I keep rolling on”, the former expressing rejection and finality with the latter an expression of triumph and determination. The musical ideas reflect the structure of the narrative in that they mirror and prefigure the end inherent in the beginning. “I’m moving too fast” is also a bravura moment for Morrisby contrasting with the skilful fugal moment at the end of “Still Hurting”. The discordant distortions of the themes just after the wedding are particularly poignant.

The set, designed by Mel Ransley who also plays Cathy, is a charming surprise. Elements are manipulated by back stage personal with no recourse to reduced lighting or the need for interruption to the action. The stoop doorway covered with ivy is well utilised as is the Willow framed Ohio dock. The stage easily transitions between interior and exterior scenes, variously a bar, a coffee shop etc as well as Cathy’s apartment. It is a sweetly detailed set.

Ransley’s name is all over the programme which is otherwise an entirely collaborative effort with no one director. Despite the lack of that one decisive eye, the show does have a coherent vision.

Cathy (Mel Ransley) and Jamie (Sam Dean) deliver stellar acting turns. They rarely leave the stage and are always in character, always responding to events. This provides clarity to the unusual structure of the show.  Dean has a characteristically dopey infatuated look in Cathy scenes which occur early in the relationship (Shiksa Goddess). This contrasts with his guarded and tortured expressions of latter scenes (e.g., on the dock in Ohio). It is similarly clear when the audience is engaging with the optimistic Cathy (“I can do better than that”) or the embittered Cathy (“See, I’m Smiling”). Jamie is the character most obviously culpable in the failure of the relationship between the two protagonists but Dean manages to make Jamie less reprehensible and more of a lost soul. Dean gives Jamie sympathetically. In Dean’s hands, Jamie is a vulnerable young man to whom success comes too soon with Cathy as a prize easily won and soon tarnished. Dean is also on point vocally. He smashes out numbers such as “Moving too Fast” and gives a delightful characterisation of Schmuel. Dean has a great falsetto and handles the ballads with sensitivity.

Ransley has a commanding belt and a lovely tone in the ballads. Cathy’s insecurities are powerfully expressed in “I’m a part of that” and the challenging “Climbing Uphill” sequence. As with Dean’s depiction of Jamie as flawed but comprehensible, Ransley gives a nuanced performance of Cathy as ambitious and needy but also sad and defeated. Together, the two create some pin-drop chemistry. The wedding scene is genuinely moving. The visual elements are created around the two actors who are dressed by the crew as the action unfolds. This production of The Last five Years is a genuine emotional rollercoaster effected by a terrific score, top notch vocals, and absolutely convincing acting. The sound balance, set, audio mix, and smoothly effected costume changes, all enhance the experience.

Team Cathy? Team Jamie? Team Moz?  All are at the top of their game but to vote for one would be to deny to the team behind them. I vote Team Parker. 

Anne Blythe-Cooper

Photographer: Millie Crouch