A fishing trip gone wrong sees three men, under the threat of death, fall prey to humanity’s darker side. After their unexpected salvation they return to their bourgeois lives in Sydney, vowing henceforth to eat only ethically sourced food in humble gratitude for their lives.
As premises go for ethical eating, it’s as good any. When it comes to poking fun at hipster food culture, the more absurd the better. Eddie Perfect’s first stab at playwriting is absurdly funny, despite having arrived too late to be considered in any way cutting edge or sharply observed. By this point, making fun of food haute couture is pretty run of the mill. Regardless, strong comic performances and some killer one-liners make for an enjoyable and hilarious, if unchallenging, night of theatre.
The play unfolds over the tried and true ‘dinner party’ scenario, where the three men, with their respective partners, reunite for an evening of nose-to-tail eating, beginning with the butchering of a free range organic calf. In true hipster style, the irony of celebrating life with death never occurs to this lot.
Pack leader Simon played by Rohan Nichol is arrogant, chauvinistic, manipulative and amoral. He is the guy you love to hate, and whilst it’s satisfying to see his demise, he is really too much cartoon villain to be believable. His emotionally abused pill popping wife is similarly flatly drawn; her only function seems to be as his punching bag. Even an empathetic performance by the lovely Christie Whelan Browne doesn’t make this character whole.
One of the standout characters is Toby Truslove’s Rob, who ​hides his anger like he buries his smoking addiction – beneath copious quantities of minty fresh sweeteners. Not only is he one of the more well rounded characters, but Truslove’s deliciously physical brand of performance brings out the layers in a character who alternates between grinning idiot and tortured soul.
Rob’s wife Sue, played by Heidi Arena, is purely functional – her voice in the play is the voice of societal hypocrisy, dictating the confines of acceptable behaviour. There’s not much else to her, though Arena has fun with it and makes it fun in the process.
Alison Bell and Eddie Perfect’s Marge and Baird respectively are the most relatable of the lot. Self-assured Marge has the lion’s share of punchlines and delivers them with a satisfying deadpan sarcasm. Common, unrefined Baird is seemingly so hopeless that it’s almost too unbelievably perfect when his underdog turns the tables on Simon’s cruelty.
Production elements are largely scaled back – this is a dialogue and performance driven play, although due props to designer Dale Ferguson. His robotic calf is both cartoonish enough to be funny, and realistic enough to be creepy.
In terms of story, character, production and structure, The Beast is pretty elementary. It could do with some reigning in: some of the jokes are pushed for too long. The structure is a little clunky and the characters largely one dimensional. Luckily, there’s enough comic gold, shaped by the fun ensemble cast, to make it all worthwhile. Any social criticisms the play proposes to deliver are undone, as ultimately food snobbery becomes the very device with which the characters prove their worth, and therefore becomes justified. Ultimately, we are making fun of each other and ourselves, and whilst this could be seen as a political cop out, poking fun at ourselves is undeniably good for the soul.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
The Beast
By Eddie Perfect
Directed by Simon Phillips
Set Designer: Dale Ferguson
Composer: Alan John
Lighting Designer: Trent Suidgeest
Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Until 21 August 2016
Additional dates:
The Comedy Theatre, Melbourne: 25 August – 4 September
Lyric Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane: 15 – 18 September
www.thebeastplay.com
