October
October at SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross; April 10-May 26, 2007; ph:1300 306 776 or www.griffintheatre.com.au
If Shakespeare had written October the next line, after Christopher Stollery's forcefully hopeful statement "We're good people," would be another character observing: "Methinks thou dost protest too much."
But Shakespeare didn't write this new Australian play, Ian Wilding did, so the response is a not entirely convinced nod of agreement from Simone McAullay. Stollery and McAullay play Tim and Angela, a perfect Sydney couple whose smart lives (senior airline pilot and successful interior designer) are disrupted by an unwelcome stranger.
Dez (Ed Wightman) is every woman's nightmare: the seemingly pleasant loser who claims to be an ex-lover, except that Angela has never seen him before. At least, that's what she says - and she says it with conviction. But, of course, even while vigorously asserting his belief in her integrity and vowing his trust, Tim's eyes are clouding over with doubt.
Set after September 11, 2001, October plays with the uncertainties and emotional and social shifts triggered by the event. Tim and Simone spend a lot of time shoring up their lives and relationship. On the surface these appear glossy and desirable - and may well be - but neither is sure and it takes very little to shake the foundations. To protect themselves Tim avoids turbulence - quite literally flying around it - and Simone creates beautiful interiors.
Unfortunately, Dez is Nature's turbulence. His passive aggression is genuinely disturbing as is the obvious fragility of the edifice which is their lives. Ironically it's Dez - the weirdo loser - who is the most plausibly human of the three: Tim and Simone are as artificial as their perfect white apartment. Nevertheless, when they decide to hire a private detective to find and then get rid of Dez, it is they who become three-dimensional in their horror and anger.
October is uncomfortably and frequently funny, no more so than when Dick (yes really) arrives on the scene. Played with hilariously controlled hysteria and eccentricity by Simon Burke, Dick is from the white trench coat and briefcase full of cliches, spare wigs and false moustaches school of gumshoes.
This second outsider enters the equation with a usurper - Dez - already in his place in the classic dramatic scheme of things, so he ups the ante. Dick is like a character from an entirely different play; in this instance a surreal farce. And while it could be a disaster, Burke not only pulls it off but creates a comic character of startling menace and many laughs.
Set, lighting and sound designs by Jo Briscoe, Bernie Tan and Nick Wishart are uncluttered, stylish and effective; the white apartment is clinically elegant and its airport motifs are witty. Julian Meyrick's direction is also, largely, stylish and effective but occasionally makes an uncomfortable tennis match of the Stables space. (With an actor at the head of the stairs and another at the back of the stage for an exchange of dialogue it is impossible to take in both without a lot of head wagging.)
October is a curiously constructed play and could easily have fallen apart at the seams. That it is highly entertaining is a tribute to the cast and also, one suspects, because Wilding simply toughs out the improbabilities with reserves of conviction and comedy on standby.
The only cockeyed moment he can't get away with, however, is when Tim explains to Simone the route of a fateful flight which has resulted in his suspension from duty. It took him - he says - south-west of Kabul then over the Bay of Bengal and on to London. If he did fly his jumbo via this circuitous route it's little wonder he was suspended - check your atlas!
