GAYBIES
GAYBIES, Darlinghurst Theatre Company at the Eternity Playhouse, 6 February-8 March 2015. Photography by Helen White: above - Steve Le Marquand and Sheridan Harbridge; right: Zindzi Okenyo and Georgia Scott.
The first version of this semi-verbatim or documentary theatre piece was presented in Melbourne by Melbourne Theatre Company and the Midsumma Festival in 2013. It apparently sets out to answer the question “what about the children?” – meaning those brought up by gay parents – and it does it by stitching together responses to this and other pertinent questions, including some about marriage equality, put to volunteers by director/writer Dean Bryant.
According to reports, the Melbourne show was a staged reading with an all-star cast including Todd McKenney, Magda Szubanski Trevor Ashley, Virginia Gay, Ben Mingay and Georgia Scott, the latter now appearing in this newly trimmed version, for Mardi Gras, as part of a much smaller cast of Cooper George Amai, Sheridan Harbridge, Rhys Keir, Steve Le Marquand, Zindzi Okenyo and Olivia Rose. It is, according to its own blurb, “funny and moving piece of real life theatre…deeply personal and highly topical…authentic accounts of family life told with humour, wisdom and honesty.” Be that as it may, it’s also bum-numbingly dull when not irritatingly twee and self-satisfied.
In his program notes Bryant says of the writing process: “I’m not a naturally social person, so was slightly terrified of having to meet so many strangers…” This is only too evident in the 90 minute show in which the absence of searching or varied questions means the actors are forced to try to find new ways to say the same thing, over and over. The end result gives endless repetition a bad name.
There also seems to be a surprising degree of naivety on display in the number of times a participant remarks on the amazingness of having four parents. It suggests no one gave much thought to the vast numbers of children of divorced and re-partnered (straight) parents who’ve experienced similar kinds of multiple relationships with their parental adults – Divorbies, perhap?
The trouble with Gaybies is, as a colleague muttered on the way out of the theatre, “It’s very well meaning…” True, and frankly, that’s the kiss of death for entertainment or drama. And it’s because it is well meaning it entirely lacks drama, which is absurd. It’s just not credible – and definitely not interesting – that every child of gay parents is happy about it, is well adjusted and if around the age of 5 or 6, just has cute lispy things to say on the topic.
And that’s another thing: played on an elaborate set of a school auditorium, the section where the cast dons floral headgear and enacts the cute small kids roles is excruciating. Can’t recall ever having seen such bad approximations of childhood. And it’s only in reading the program before the show that you could possibly work out that each actor is playing at least three different roles.
So: unlike authentic, skilled documentary or verbatim theatre, Gaybies is devoid of tangible structure or drama and simply meanders hither and yon in amiable and aimless celebration of gay parenting. A tiny spark flares when someone says – gasp! – I don’t give a shit about gay marriage, it’s just oppressive nonsense, isn’t it? But the overwhelmingly bland tone of the evening is quickly restored.
Unfortunately Gaybies is evidence – if needed – that entertaining, interesting, meaningful theatre is not built on niceness and good intentions and Dean Bryant, whose most recent work includes the wonderful (and acidic) Sweet Charity and also wonderful (and acerbic) I’ll Eat You Last, is one person who should know that. A dreadful waste of a talented and hardworking cast.
