Spencer by Katy Warner. Directed by Sharon Davis. Lab Kelpie. The Q, Queanbeyan. Oct.
19-21
Spencer is a sort of soapish four letter word laden domestic
Aussie Rules brawl of a play out of which emerges a bit of comedy and some
serious themes.
At first it’s chaos.
In fact it stays chaos.
Larger than life matriarch Marilyn (Jane Clifton) presides
over three adult children. In the case of Ben (Lyall Brooks) there’s very
little of the adult. He coaches junior football but does not seem to do much
else other than sprawl about and be a loud mouth. His brother Scott (Jamieson
Caldwell) has, on the other hand, a promising AFL career but seems to be
troubled by the imminent arrival of Spencer, the infant son he did not know he
had from a relationship he does not seem to remember too well.
Daughter Jules (Fiona Harris) arrives, jobless and restless,
and unwillingly back in the family home. Then the long absent father of the
family, Ian (Roger Oakley) turns up unexpectedly, having fallen out with his
current love and family and needing, like Jules, somewhere to stay. Or
somewhere to be. Meanwhile mother Marilyn prepares for the arrival of the unexpected
grandchild Spencer with an orgy of gift buying, decorations and the making of
sausage rolls.
This can all feel a bit off putting, particularly given what
feels like the repetitive poverty of the characters’ language. But out of this emerges some interesting
character development, especially after the arrival of Oakley’s very laid back,
vulnerable but manipulative dad. Jules reveals something of what it has been
like for her as the only daughter in some nicely careful work from Harris. Even Clifton’s Marilyn displays a well
played moment of care for her.
The tensions surrounding Scott seem to swing to and fro and
the ending is a bit of a deus ex machina but Caldwell makes us care somewhat
about the young footballer’s dilemmas. Only Ben among the siblings remains a
lost soul who knows he’s lost but can’t summon the energy for a course of
action, like moving out and moving on.
It’s really a collection of minor tragedies, compounded by various
kinds of inertia, in an Australian lounge room that increasingly mirrors inner
turmoils. Funny, well done and ultimately
depressing.