The Way of All Fish

Two very strong performances feature in this caustic battle of wills by Elaine May, presented at the Old Fitz as part of this year’s Sydney Fringe. The Way of All Fish imagines a drunken Friday night ‘quiet dinner’ between a dominating, nitpicking boss from Hell, Ms Margaret Asquith (Sarah Farmer) and her underpaid, possibly psychotic secretary, Miss Joan Riverton (Hailey McQueen), and uses black humour to reveal strange happenings in a modern day office.

What begins with a minor request about an exercise elastic becomes a catalyst for a surprising sparring match. It is a man’s world, as Margaret bemoans; soon we learn about the sex lives of fish who change gender in order to survive. The two women circle each other warily, snapping like sharks. Small objects such as  a nail file become potentially lethal weapons.

Impressions of a posh penthouse office (in this Sydney version, in Martin Place) are artfully conveyed with flexible use of interchangeable white cubes and a large white desk. The soundtrack is very eclectic.

Farmer and McQueen give delicious, excellent performances. As Margaret, Farmer opens the show, displaying her strength and agility as she exercise. Later she appears elegantly dressed in an orange top with lace and a black and gold jacket. We then see her dominating personality as she ticks off Joan, her secretary, for a minor misdemeanour. Unexpected cancelations of events lead to them ordering food and having a ‘night in’. Over the course of the evening, as both of them put away lots of wine, Margaret confesses she is blinkered, only seeing what is right in front of her and how awkward this can be. Educated in Switzerland, she is ambitious and somewhat self centred and it sounds as if she is caught in a cold, unhappy marriage.

Joan, her secretary, disparages her boss’s personal trainer and exercise routine. We learn that Joan is from Wagga Wagga and surprisingly knowledgeable about wine, but claims not to know who Dostoevsky is. But the big themes of the play are developed in Joan’s drunken confessions about her younger self wanting to be famous and her fascination – almost obsession – with murder and how one murders to become famous. Joan’s thoughts are chillingly portrayed – is she in fact slightly mad? Does she poison Margaret with the wine? Do both of them survive?

The Way of All Fish explores the appearance of strength and power – how many boxes of office files can Joan (or Margaret) lift? How many push-ups can each do? How much power does each woman really wield over the other?

May’s script is witty, biting and sarcastic, and features some great one liners. The packed audience really enjoyed this show and laughed in all the right places. But on your way out, please do not feed the fish.