Exclusion, written and directed by David Atfield, at The
Street Theatre, until November 17. Reviewed by PHILLIP MACKENZIE.
LET us start by evicting the elephant from this review of
David Atfield's latest play, “Exclusion”: the three male characters/actors
spend as much stage-time naturally and unselfconsciously naked as clothed;
while one female staunchly remains fully-dressed, the other briefly goes ‘the whole Monty'.
The set is as starkly essential and as effective as the naked
bodies, with an enigmatic touch behind the rear scrim wall, and the lighting
and sound are imaginative and, for the most part, effective.
Now to the real nuts-and-bolts of the play – and there are
enough of them to keep the actors, and the audience, on their toes. “Exclusion”
is a deft construction of many themes, political, social, sensual, intellectual,
emotional, religious and sexual.
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| Ethan Gibson as Craig Morrow, Michael Sparks as Michael Connor, photo Shelly Higgs |
Two alpha males (Jasper Ferrier and Michael
Connor played respectively and respectfully by Craig Alexander and Michael
Sparks), with competing political ambitions are brought face-to-face (or
belly-to-belly) with their frustrated or suppressed sexual realities through
the agency of a self-aware millennial (Craig Morrow, played honestly by Ethan
Gibson), the only male who understands the implications of his homosexuality
and his emotional commitment to the devious Jasper.
Jasper and Michael are married, respectively, to the fecund
and worldly Jacinta (Fiona Victoria Hopkins) and the sterile 'Christian'
Caroline (Tracy Bourne).
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| Craig Alexander as Jasper Ferrier,Ethan Gibson as Craig Morrow, photo Shelly Higgs |
The depth of Jasper's deception has to be understood in the
context of his having fathered five offspring with Jacinta who, for all her
intelligence, has either been unaware of or has ignored, of her own venial
purposes, her husband's duplicity and, it must be said, shows little of the
'wear and tear' one might expect of a mother of five.
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Fiona Victoria Hopkins as Jacinta Ferrier, Tracy Bourne as Caroline Connor, photo by Shelly Higgs. |
All four characters are well constructed and believable. Only
the saintly, fundamentalist Caroline is somewhat of a stereotype and fails to
convince as a real person, despite Tracy Bourne's best efforts.
This production of the play is not without its faults,
however peripheral – Grange Hermitage is not a rosé, Michael Connor would
hardly risk being caught naked in the corridor between his and Craig's rooms, the
constantly flickering TV in the background irritates rather than informs, and
men of the status and ambition of all three male characters would have quality
shoes, polished.
Notwithstanding, David Atfield has written a play of
considerable complexity, dealing honestly and engagingly with contemporary
political and moral issues now open to such examination and exposure. It
deserves to go far, even in our less sophisticated cities.
