Actor and writer Katherine Connolly’s new play enters the strange, imaginary world of two sisters living together alone in rural Victoria in the 1800s.
Following the death of their father, the two sisters are left to entertain themselves. They step nervously into their father’s study for the first time, the spectre of their overbearing pater making them unsure of their new independence. With a heady combination of glee and guilt, the unprecedented freedom of life without their father sees them slip into an imaginary world. The sisters, played by Charlie Laidlaw and Connolly – who clearly have a lot of fun onstage – express their absurd inner worlds through very physical caricature. They egg each other on, taking it in turns to prod the other further down the rabbit hole of their imaginations, triggered by writings from the Bible and their father’s papers.
The pair find diary entries from Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Burnaby in their father’s effects and re-enact them with exhilaration. Drinking salted tea on the Ghan is a far more entertaining proposition than the reality of sitting drinking sherry and waiting for callers who never come. As time goes, on the sisters begin to suspect their father might have had a heavier hand in their present fate than they knew.
This off-beat, kooky play is both highly original, playful and slightly disturbing. While the sisters’ theatrical creative expression is entertaining, the play becomes a slightly grotesque Grey Gardens-esque display of the trope of the crazy old single woman, which is slightly unsettling. The sisters’ imaginary world becomes more defiant after they find some disparaging comments in his diaries about his ‘withering spinster’ daughters. Weddings are a large part of their fantasy, as are imaginary gentlemen callers, including the Lieutenant Colonel himself, who appears onstage dashingly played by Bernard Caleo.
The size restrictions of La Mama’s Courthouse Theatre are put to good use. The simple set of an unkempt bed, a skeleton, a messy desk and a small table and chair set works well, as does the moody lighting.
Towards the end of the play, references to Facebook and dancing to the Pussycat Dolls seem like laboured attempts to keep the play relevant. They would perhaps work better if they had been woven through the entire play rather than tacked on later.
As a writer, Katherine Connolly has clearly done her research, and there is an intellectual bent to a lot of the writing, tempered by the sheer daftness of what is actually happening on stage. Whether you know about history or not, just to watch the sisters frolic around imitating various birds and historical characters is one way to enjoy it, and there are quite a few guffaws from the audience throughout the hour-long performance.
Rating: 2 ½ stars out of 5
The Great Game
La Mama Courthouse, Drummond St
29 January – 16 February
