Haley and Presley Stray (Jessi LeBrocq and Brett Johnson) are late 20-something siblings living a meagre, if childishly fantastical, existence in their absent parent’s house.
The brother and sister exist on chocolate, mood-stabilizing drugs and stories of their own devising, all of which help keep them in a permanent adolescence. Haley has tantrums, and is sedated via a drug-soaked dummy, while Presley buries his adult emotions beneath detailed descriptions of his apocalyptic dreams, of which Haley can’t get enough of.
They have no visitors, they have no friends, they have no life, save one another.
During Haley’s latest drug-induced slumber, Presley takes it upon himself to help a man he sees outside. Before he knows it, Cosmo Disney (David Molloy) is spewing his guts out on the floor and bile into Presley’s ears. Hateful, cynical Disney is much younger than Presley but far more world weary, and has no qualms about describing his experiences of life in sordid detail. He also has his jittery eyes on the comatose Haley. Maybe things will calm down when his partner, Pitchfork Cavalier (Darren Pinks), comes back with the car…
First staged in 1991, Philip Ridley’s The Pitchfork Disney is showing its age. What was shocking to audiences 20 years ago now seems oddly quaint. Some elements of the play remain unsettling, but little more. Certainly its themes of boredom, arrested development, a confused longing for death, and comfort through consumption are still pertinent, but with the advent of new technology such as the internet and social media, it seems hard to believe that there would be young people (in the western world, at least), who would enjoy being such blissful Luddites. Haley is obsessed with chocolate, Presley with the outside world, Cosmo with destruction and Pitchfork, well; Pitchfork is pretty cut and dried. But the narrative is too loose, the characters are unlikable, and too many questions are left answered.
Nonetheless, the material provides the actors with something to sink their teeth into. Brett Johnson as Presley gives it a good bash with a modicum of restraint; his dream tale, while lengthy, is the highlight of the show. Jessi LeBrocq’s Haley chews the scenery to pieces before passing out on the couch for the majority of the piece, and Molloy’s Cosmo Disney straddles the tight rope of ham and greasy creepiness.
The lighting is suitably atmospheric, subtly fading in and out in keeping with the dream-like qualities of the play. The set is grungy and old, but comfortable looking, belying the fear of change that runs through Presley and Haley’s lives. Costumes are also simple but effective; the siblings look like they haven’t changed clothes since the 90’s, while Disney and Pitchfork are sharply dressed, ready for the end of the world.
Ultimately, The Pitchfork Disney is interesting, but unfulfilling.
Rating: 1 ½ stars out of 5
The Pitchfork Disney
By Philip Ridley
Director: Rachel Chant
Producer: David Jackson
Set Design: Erin Slyney
Sound Design: Joseph Dutaillis
Lighting Design: Sian James Holland
Costume Design: Jessica Sinclair Martin
With Brett Johnson, Jessi LeBrocq, David Molloy and Darren Pinks
Sidetrack Theatre, Marrickville
5 – 9 December
