Ben Prendergast and Kasia Kaczmarek in The One; Photo by Pier Carthew.
Six months ago, Emily Tomlins and Kasia Kaczmarek shared a stage in Elbow Room’s We Get It, a searing critique of the treatment of women in the theatre industry. Now, for the inaugural Poppyseed festival, they are reunited in Tanya Dickson’s production of The One, a new British play that takes one night in the life of a mutually abusive relationship to examine issues of love, sex and power. Having last seen these two women on stage taking a powerful stand for the sanctity of their bodies and voices, it’s interesting to see them tackling highly gendered characters and issues in murkier ethical waters.
After a troublingly comic first look at Harry and Jo’s relationship (Ben Prendergastand Kasia Kaczmarek respectively), the catalyst for the drama is the arrival of Kerry (Tomlins), a close friend and ex-lover of Harry’s. Clearly distressed, and put further on edge by Jo’s button-pushing antics, Kerry admits the reason she’s come – her partner has sexually assaulted her. Far from the sympathy she needs or expects, Kerry is faced with a scathing rebuke from Jo, who twists Kerry’s story to make her feel that she is at fault for the assault. Harry in turn twists Jo’s words back on her, and Kerry leaves with barely a nod of recognition from the poisonous couple, who are already engrossed in what will become a night of increasingly violent attempts to cut to the core of their relationship.
All three performances in this tight, highly-strung drama are commendable. Prendergast plays the egomaniacal and manipulative Harry with requisite compassion, turning what may have been a two-dimensional monster in the hands of a lesser performer into a deeply likeable and thereby unpredictable presence. Kaczmarek is enthralling as Jo; we get just enough proof of her humanity to keep us intrigued by her cruelty. And cutting through the volatility of the central relationship, Tomlins gives fully to the heartbreakingly earnest Kerry; her transformation into a toy in the couple’s game is horrible to watch.
Throughout this entire play, I oscillated wildly in my judgments of the work and its portrayals of intimate partner violence in all its forms – sexual, physical, emotional. Jo’s hateful monologue of blame towards Kerry is a powerful exploration of internalised patriarchy, but at other times her cruelty seems empty. In these more troubling moments, the work seems to have an alarming interest in romanticising and aestheticising its violence. Ultimately, though, these inconsistencies in tone seem to stem from the work’s bravery and ambition. This is a work that seeks to make visible the ugliest, most difficult extremes of love and obsession, and thereby force a conversation that can no longer be black and white. Even where the play missteps around its fragile subject matter, it remains important as a provocation.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
The One
Written by Vicky Jones
Presented by Fire Curtain Co.
Directed by Tanya Dickson
Text re-imagined for Australian audiences by Rachel Perks
Cast: Kasia Kaczmarek, Ben Prendergast and Emily Tomlins
Set & costumes by Sophie Woodward
Lighting by Amelia Lever-Davidson
Sound by Russell Goldsmith
Fortyfivedownstairs
http://www.fortyfivedownstairs.com/theatre-info/current-theatre/
2 – 13 December
