Melbourne Boys follows a familiar group of characters – from CEL Production’s earlier trilogy of the same name – in their shared journey from adolescence to middle age. Bound together by the unseen Sebastian, these friends find love, heartbreak and a shared history threading through their lives. Across the course of the play they discover both grief and joy within the moments that come to define them.
The play moves between their easy and hopeful youth to their 50s and back again, to all points in between. It is at times a confusing piece to unravel; let it never be said that this play gives away its secrets too soon.
Its clever and engaging structure consists of a series of short, sharp duologues, interspersed with poignant monologues. La Fontaine could have shaken this up a little as the format gets slightly tired by the end. Rushed dialogue and hasty delivery also meant that many beautiful moments were lost, reducing the impact of the writing and negating much of the emotional punch of later scenes. Despite this, there were many strong moments throughout the performance, particularly from Gavin Williams in the role of the geeky, but endearing Ben.
Love Victoria, set 25 years on, is La Fontaine’s feminine ‘reply’ to the masculinity of Melbourne Boys. This conversational exchange between the two pieces sees the seven strong female cast lead the audience through a turbulent mix of emotions and issues, uprooting family secrets and exposing new truths.
Watched over by the ghost of Sebastian, his wife Catherine continues beyond the tragedy that sees her through Melbourne Boys and into this new phase of her life. Her adopted daughter, the eponymous Victoria, with her friends and newly discovered half sister, draw us into a world where women’s choices – the ones they want to make and those that the world thrusts upon them – are put under scrutiny as thoughts of sexuality, motherhood and marriage consume their lives.
The script bounces along easily and has a strong female voice, convincingly portraying the thoughts of seven women. The story grabs the audience, and the younger members of the cast bring a lot of energy and life to the script, particularly in the relationship between Victoria (Maggie Chretien) and her two friends (Vanessa Elliott and Jennifer Lusk). This makes for easy and enjoyable viewing with moments of humour and deep emotion that grab our attention until the end.
It does unfortunately seem unrealistic that almost every character is either adopted, a lesbian, or pregnant (or multiple combinations of all three). The result is a play that feels forced in places. La Fontaine has already proved his capacity for clever writing, and he could be a lot subtler here. As with Melbourne Boys, the theme of love binds the play together, a universal truth which maintains the dignity and spirit of the piece.
Whether you saw the initial trilogy of Melbourne Boys and want to revisit its characters, or whether this is your first outing with them, it is definitely worth catching this double bill of engaging, independent Australian theatre. Though flawed, there is also success here, and with the force of La Fontaine behind the company, one imagines that things are just warming up for CEL Productions. However, with each play running to one and half hours each, it’s a long night if you want to catch both works. That said, the correlating storylines between the two plays means that to see only one is to see only half the story.
Rating: Three and a half stars
Love Fest Australia: Melbourne Boys and Love Victoria
Written, directed and produced by Jonathan Christian La Fontaine
Assistant Director John Pendergast
Production Manager, Costume and Co-Set Designer Constantina La Fontaine
Photography, Graphic and Co-Set Design by André Stefan White Art and Design
Music written and performed by Huw Gregory and Jonathan Christian La Fontaine
Melbourne Boys performed by Jonathan Christian La Fontaine, Sophia Davey, Francisco Lopez, Latecha Cadle, Gavin Williams and John Pendergast
Love Victoria performed by Cas Yates, Maggie Chretien, Vanessa Elliott, Jennifer Lusk, Ana Pereira-Della Rocca, Natalia Nespeca, Linda Cookson and Jonathan Christian La Fontaine
CUB Malthouse, Tower Theatre
August 17 – 21
