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Nicholas Hope’s newest play for Griffin Independent, Five Properties of Chainmale, is best appreciated with a little background reading, both on the play and the society that has created a need for it.
At the time of writing, a woman has been murdered every 81 hours in Australia this year. Women earn, on average, 76 cents for each dollar that men earn. A recent Reddit thread revealed shocking stories about early sexualisation of women. There are countless other statistics that could be quoted here to illustrate the fact that the modern concept of masculinity is broken in some way. Through five separate vignettes, Five Properties of Chainmale examines a number of flaws with contemporary masculinity. In the process, he opens our eyes to a culture laced with narcissism, misogyny, furtiveness and more.
Five Properties of Chainmale opens with the consistently brilliant Briony Kidd prancing about in sexy black lingerie ahead of her regular liaison with a man (Jeremy Waters) in a luxury hotel room. In a scene devoid of deep conversation or chemistry, her lover appears as a pathetic, impotent figure, his thoughts and movements illustrated humorously with the assistance of Alan Lovell and Dominic McDonald. Their scene plays out, the meeting ends and the scene dissolves into the second vignette.
The deft movements of the ingenious, somewhat industrial set ‘furniture’ (designed by Thomas A Rivard) and instantaneous character changes from the actors help mark the running order of the evening. Over the course of sixty minutes, we travel between locations from Norway to Sydney, and examine a number of repulsive main characters played interchangeably within scenes by Waters, Lovell and McDonald.
There’s the social-climbing art gallery attendee who rages at his friend for empathising with a miscarriage sufferer. There are husbands and partners, each with their own psychologically damaging behaviours towards the women in their lives. There are the various versions and protestations of the father whose teenage son is accused of rape. The men share common traits of shallowness, self-gratification and a lack of self-awareness. Were it not for the changes in story-lines, names and locations, they could almost be the same person: in this way, none of the male actors are particularly stretched, although their performances are solid.
It’s refreshing to see such a concept tackled on stage, and Hope should be commended for this. Unfortunately, the main fault of Five Properties of Chainmale is that it doesn’t quite go deep enough. Despite attempts to be a discussion provoking piece on topics that clearly need discussion, there are times when it’s unclear which message the director/ playwright wants to convey. This is particularly apparent in the discussions on rape and consent, which are uncomfortable at best. There are sections of the play which may offend both men and women watching, not least of all the intimation that men are inherently prone to sexual violence. Hope’s play makes pre-reading of the synopsis a necessity. Even then, there are points where he has missed the mark.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Five Properties of Chainmale
An Arts Radar and Griffin Independent production
Director: Nicholas Hope
Cast: Alan Lovell, Dominic McDonald, Jeremy Waters & Briony Williams
Set Designers: Tom Bannerman & Thomas A Rivard
Lighting Designer: Christopher Page
Sound Designer: David Kirkpatrick
Costume Designer: Zora Milevski
SBW Stables Theatre, Kings Cross
15 April – 9 May 2015
