MUSIC

Music - Griffin Independent and Stories Like These at SBW Stables Theatre, April 4 - 26 Photography by Kurt Sneddon main Anthony Gee; right: Anthony Gee and Kate Skinner

BY WHITNEY FITZSIMMONS

Music is writer Jane Bodie's second Griffin offering and by all accounts it's a worthy effort. However, it pales in comparison to her 2011 Griffin production This Year's Ashes, which was a wonderful, slick and contemporary new Australian work.

Music is inspired by Bodie's own familial history and the experiences of having a brother who has struggled with mental illness. In Bodie's program note she explains how her writing process was informed and driven by an "urgent responsibility to convey the subject with respect and authenticity." Her desire was also motivated by seeing many renditions of mental illness unrealistically portrayed with "little understanding." But sometimes when one is too close to a subject, despite the best intentions, that closeness can get in the way, as is the case in Music.

Adam (Anthony Gee) is recovering from serious mental illness and is "getting much better". Gavin (Tom Stokes) is an actor who looks to Adam for advice in researching a character with mental illness he is about to perform in a play. They strike at first an awkward partnership which quickly moves to being pals. Enter Sarah (Kate Skinner) Gavin's co-star and not-so-secret crush. The three end up hanging out, playing pool and drinking way too much alcohol, which according to the play's voice of reason and sanity, Tom (Sam O'Sullivan) is something Adam should NOT being doing under any circumstance. Of course this where lines get crossed, reality is blurred and generally the already rickety wheels begin to firmly leave the track.

The aforementioned cast do an admirable job under difficult circumstances. In this case the Griffin stage which is usually transformed into a seemingly bigger space through clever sets, is cluttered and unwieldy. Pip Runciman's set is like an obstacle course and I suspect not in the way it was intended to be, often the cast are trapped by the blocking and the furniture. Corey McMahon's direction doesn't seem to solve these issues and appears to instead leave it to the actors.

Anthony Gee's Adam, is a well defined and researched portrayal or a person under the influence of mental illness, full of strange peccadillos and ramblings but avoiding the pitfalls of trailing into cliche. Tom Stokes' Gavin is such a wanker and so dislikable I had to remind myself he is acting and therefore doing a fabulous job. Kate Skinner's Sarah is at first a bubbly and attractive balance to Adam and Gavin, but by the end of the play her performance gets locked into one zone of reaction which is probably a by-product of loose direction.

Overall in Bodie's aim to be "responsible" her story becomes bland. I understand the need to present believable characters but what we miss are the highs and lows. Music isn't necessarily music to the ears, it feels more like a work in progress. But it is a noble effort.