Trophy Boys

Boys will be boys, unless they are played a female and non-binary cast in drag in State Theatre Company/Soft Tread’s latest production Trophy Boys!

Written by Emmanuelle Mattana at just 21 years old, it is a masterful piece of writing! Over a all too short 70 minutes, we are introduced to four St Imperium Private School boys who are in their one-hour prep window to go toe-to-toe with their sister school in the Interschool Debating Grand Finals.

Owen is the political and intellectual leader of the group, who brainstorms with Jared (who “loves women”) Scott, (the sporty jock, repressed homosexual who believes that Heated Rivalry is just a film about two boys who love sport) and David (the debate advisor). Their topic is “Feminism has failed women”. And unfortunately for them, they are the affirmative team.

What starts as a comically executed, pseudo-intellectual discussion is interrupted by a startling revelation that unites the boys more than ever and becomes a deeper examination of insecure adolescent masculinity, entitlement, competitiveness, attitudes towards women and sexism, peer pressure, group behaviour, the cost of avoiding vulnerability, the ego of Australia’s next generation of politicians and the inadequacy of our legal system when investigating sexual assault charges.

The preshow announcement of “Adult themes, coarse language, references to sexual violence, underage sex and a strong whiff of Lynx Africa aerosol deodorant” sets the scene perfectly in a simple set with four desks, a large whiteboard, and a wall of female role models.

The success of the show is hinged on Mattana’s beautifully written script, which enables the performers to ‘take on’ the personas of their on-stage characters and convincingly play teenage schoolboys complete with all their foibles. It also delivers important messages without ‘ramming them down the throats’ of the audience. The ebb and flow of the pace is perfect, especially the ‘strip scene’ early in the play that the ‘boys’ use as thinking time.

While the subject matter is heavy, Mattana treats tempers it with humour while still allowing the message to sink in. It is clever writing.

Marni Mount’s direction is ingenious, clever, and well crafted. She fills the entire stage with movement and ensures that her cast addresses every member of the audience ensuring we have a personal connection with each member of the cast. The pace and timing of the dialogue is perfection and the characterisations are accurate.

Ben Andrews' design and Katie Sfetkidis’ lighting design are simple but effective. They allow the dialogue to speak for itself but add careful touches (i.e. the amount of merit badges on Owen’s blazer).

This is a true ensemble cast production. Myfanwy Hocking, Tahlia Jameson, Fran Sweeney-Nash & Kidaan Zelleke are clearly comfortable working with each other and the audience. They are totally believable, in fact after a couple of minutes you accept the premise that they really are Private School teenage schoolboys.

Each is able to elicit the audience’s sympathy and deliver some memorable lines, e.g. “There’s nothing more endearing than male feminists!”

It is impossible to single out any of the four cast members, they are all fully developed characters (caricatured for the purpose of the play), and work together as a team, which is apt since they are playing a debating team.

Highlights for me include – the discovery of the sexual assault on a Mac laptop (which takes a considerable beating), the five minutes ‘thinking’ strip break, the moment when the boys think they may have been captured on a hidden camera, and backstory of each of the characters.

Trophy Boys is magnificent theatre! It is seventy minutes of your life during which you will have a good laugh but also question many of the values that still abound in society today. It is riveting viewing!

Barry Hill OAM

Images by Ben Andrews

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