Elling

After several years spent together as roommates in a Norwegian institution, Elling (Darren Gilshenan), a prissy, agoraphobic, perhaps slightly autistic fantasist, and his crude, shambling, sex-and-hotdog-obsessed friend Kjell Bjarne (Hayden Spencer) are encouraged to live together in the community as part of their rehabilitation program. They are issued with the keys to an Oslo flat, and expected to live ‘normal’ lives – despite the fact that Kjell is an unkempt compulsive masturbator, and Elling – who finds it hard enough to answer the phone, let along step outside the front door – has never had to fend for himself thanks to his domineering, now deceased mother.

Over the next two hours, as they interact with suspicious social worker Frank Åsli (Bert LaBonté); a pregnant young woman (Emily Goddard) who lives on the floor above them; and the elderly poet Alfons Jørgenson (Ronald Falk) it seems that Elling and Kjell may not be cut out for real life after all – or is it real life that’s not ready for them?

The Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Elling, directed by Pamela Rabe, is a compassionate comedy that wants its audience to laugh both at and with its unusual protagonists. Unfortunately, neither the direction of this production, nor the script, are quite sharp enough to achieve such an aim.

Despite sporadic moments of humour and charm, the play itself seems oddly muted, its edges blurred and blunted. Given that it’s an English adaptation of a play based on a film inspired by a series of novels by author Ingvar Ambjørnsen, that’s perhaps not surprising. In essence, watching Elling feels akin to watching a video tape or listening to a cassette that’s a fifth or sixth generation copy (kids, ask your parents what ‘cassettes’ and ‘video tapes’ were); the focus has slipped and the magic is muted.

The direction, too, is lacking. The first half of the play has neither energy nor drama – to be blunt, it’s a trifle dull. After interval, while the pace improves, the production focuses more on over-the-top stagecraft than on drawing out the emotional content of the text. Cascades of books, a plethora of doors and hatches, and some strikingly beautiful design and lighting elements do not compensate for the production’s lack of nuance and heart.

Gilshenan is given the opportunity to utilise his clowning skills late in the piece, but is rarely allowed to show the pain that underlies the comedy of the best clowns. As Kjell, Spencer’s performance at first lacks subtlety, but he develops charm as the play progresses, so that his initially irritating and repetitive cries of ‘Holy shit!’ are ultimately affecting. Falk is dignified, in an undemanding role, and LaBonté and Goddard are engaging but never terribly impressive despite the array of characters they are called upon to play.  

Overall, Elling is an undemanding production; neither especially memorable nor entirely successful.

Rating: 2 ½ stars out of 5

Southbank Theatre, The Sumner
29 October – 8 December