Featuring two magnificent performance, this firecracker of a play utilises the classic structure of a road trip to examine the seismic shifts in relationships within a fractured family. Wonderfully written and performed, it is at times very funny (with sassy foul language and a flash of partial nudity) and at other moments quite shocking and moving.
Christopher Stollery is brilliant as Monkey Man, who in a desperate attempt to reconnect with his estranged stepdaughter, Bitch, takes her on a road trip across America, revisiting famous landmarks of the American West that he himself first saw as a child. Monkey Man hopes to set the record straight about his apparent failures as a father and husband. Giving him a fabulous monologue on marriage and fidelity, and another on what it is to be a writer, the play seems to ask: what are a step-parent’s responsibilities (if any) after a messy divorce?
Understandably stroppy at first, Bitch just wants out of the trip. She behaves obnoxiously, writes pointed haiku, and at Yellowstone National Park puts a blanket over her head in an effort to ignore Old Faithful. Erica Lovell gives an inspired, impassioned performance in the role.
The play features furious silences, angry eruptions, and some shocking revelations, as well as an awkward, intimate and probing analysis of the failure of ‘Monkey Man’s ‘marriage to Bitch’s mother. It also explores her reaction, and her brother’s reaction, to the divorce. Bitch is talented, smart and sassy, yet also fragile and vulnerable. Defiance is her defence against the traumas she has suffered. A major monologue revealing her traumatic secret and requesting Monkey Man’s help is terrifically done.
When the pair reach Great Falls, Montana, every thing shifts in their relationship.
Michael Hankin’s deceptively simple set is a sparse palette of dry, cracked browns. The movable furniture can be everything from car seats to anonymous hotel beds, allowing for smooth, fluid scene changes. Verity Hampson’s lighting is wonderfully sharp and effective; Stephen Toulmin’s score blends intimacy with melancholy.
The play ends abruptly, and sadly, leaving this reviewer hoping that its two broken characters could somehow reconnect.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Great Falls
By Lee Blessing
Director: Anna Crawford
Set and Costume Design: Michael Hankin
Lighting /AV Design: Verity Hampson
Composer/Sound Design: Stephen Toulmin
Cast: Erica Lovell and Christopher Stollery
Running time: 90 mins (approx) no interval
Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli
2 February – 9 March
