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| Giuliana Baggoley - Alastair McKenzie as Mother and Son in "The Good Boy Game" |
Written by Patrick Vermillion – Directed by Caitlin Baker
Performed by Giuliana Baggoley, Alastair McKenzie, Bruce
Hardie & Elaine Noon.
Presented by Q the Locals – Queanbeyan Performing Arts
Centre – 18th – 20th June. 2026
Performance on June 19th reviewed by BILL
STEPHENS.
This play by
American playwright, Patrick Vermillion, charts the results of a treatment suggested
by a psychiatrist to the parents of a wayward son. It involves a system of
points awarded for good behaviour.
It sounds innocuous
enough and may have heralded a serious attempt by the playwright to explore the
mindset that drives a child to murder its parents or even examine the
circumstances in which the parents a such a child would avoid seeking help
beyond the family unit.
But this does not
seem to be the interest of Vermillion who appears more interested in pushing the
boundaries of audience tolerance with his play in which the actions of his
characters are so repellent and unbelievable as to destroy any interest in the
outcome of their repugnant behaviour.
Upon discovering
that their bitter, nihilistic 16-year-old son is about to commit an atrocity,
his parents decide to try to de-radicalise him by following a rewards-based points
system recommended by their therapist. Their expectation is that by following
this system they could convince their son to see the benefits of being a “good
boy”.
Keeping him tied up
in their attic, the parents visit their son regularly. The father, tellingly,
arms himself with a golf club for these visits. During a visit when the father is
alone, the son convinces him to release him from his restraints, then viciously
stabs him to death.
When his mother
discovers what her son has done, instead of seeking help, she comforts the son
in a long scene during which he confesses his desire to engage in a sexual
relationship with her. She responds by admitting to similar fetishes, eventually
removing her underpants and placing them over his head.
At this performance,
both the long grisly murder, and the sexual admissions, drew nervous laughter
from some in the audience, though not because they were funny. Far from it. More
because of their absurdity.
As the play
continued it became even more difficult to work out whether the audience was meant
to receive it as comedy, drama or satire, principally because the director and
her cast appeared to struggle to settle on a consistent tone or reality in
which the characters could convincingly exist.
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| Alistair McKenzie and Giuliana Baggoley as Mother and Son in "The Good Boy Game" |
Giuliana Baggoley
and Alistair McKenzie, as the mother and son, carried the weight of the play.
Baggoley vacillated between naturalism and hysterics in her efforts to portray
the author’s intentions. McKenzie on the other hand was genuinely unsettling with
his naturalistic portrayal of the lightning-fast mood swings of the deranged
son.
Bruce Hardie and
Elaine Noon did the best they could with the thankless stock roles of husband
and therapist.
Therefore, while it
was obvious from the brave performances by the cast, and from the impressive set,
props, lighting and sound, that a lot of time and effort had been lavished on
this production.
So in the absence of a printed program or other documentation which might have informed the audience who those cast and creatives were, many were left to wonder what it was about this play, beyond the opportunity to demonstrate her ability to work with provocative material, that attracted Caitlin Baker to this play with its frivolous approach to a deeply human dilemma, as a worthy vehicle on which to exercise her undoubted directorial talents.
Photos by Caitlin Baker
