Theatre review: WAY, fortyfivedownstairs

WAY’S first season was at La Mama Courthouse last year and it returns for a second season at fortyfivedownstairs. Written and performed by acclaimed playwright and actor Sally McKenzie – of the famous 1977 NIDA class that included Mel Gibson and Judy Davis – the story centres on a documentary maker, Lynne, who’s interviewed four women as a cross-section of those who are over 55 and find themselves homeless. She’s trying to convince the national broadcaster to support the documentary in order to raise awareness and agitate for change on this current and urgent issue. 

There’s Julie, who makes the opening appearance in her grey hooded jumper with a hanky on the ground in front of her, asking bustling workers for change while tram bells sound. After a scene of Lynne’s daily life, Maysie is introduced, pulling items out of a suitcase and sharing how she’s ended up living in her car. 

Then Lily comes on, with a pink button-up jacket and a phone bag slung across the body, and whose nervousness affects her speech as she outlines the sequence of events leading to her couch-surfing. Zahra arrives in a long red cardigan, with a habit of saying ‘right’ at the end of a sentence, and explaining how she used to be a lawyer and is now in a women’s refuge. 

Together with lighting cues, snippets of the documentary screened on the back wall, and the costume, speech and mannerism changes, the audience is quickly anchored in each person’s story as the scenes move between them. There are also voicemails played to share offstage developments, a public phone box on set that is amplified when used, and a few struggles when calling businesses that use the ‘please select a menu option’ to filter callers through to a living person (when this reviewer attended this drew a few chuckles from the audience who’d shared such frustrations).

Lynne’s passion for the project and sense of duty to the women who’ve trusted her with their stories demonstrates the weight such documentary makers must feel when trying to use their creative expertise to humanise news stories. The play illustrates how such works seek to deepen public discussions beyond the clichés and tropes often used by the understaffed news rooms that can only briefly cover such complex issues.

McKenzie’s research into the lived experiences of this homeless cohort is why the play is able to expose how the intersection of domestic violence, gambling, mental diversity, caring duties for young and older family members, short-term financial fixes and housing shortages, are variously the result of a system that is no longer set up to support every member of Australian society, regardless of the situation in which find themselves. 

It’s reassuring to see that WAY is on the VCE Drama Playlist Unit 3. It shows how theatre can be a vehicle for such discussions to take place in both the school and home environments to improve awareness of the issue.

Read: Theatre review: The Woman in Black, QPAC

Whether you know a little or a lot about the issue of women aged over 55 who find themselves homeless, McKenzie’s expert performance and writing, along with the equally expert creative team, mean that WAY is a must-see to better understand a very Australian story of our time.

WAY 
Presented by theCoalface at fortyfivedownstairs

Writer, Performer, Screen Director and Producer: Sally McKenzie
Stage Director and Dramaturg: Sean Mee
Sound Designer: J David Franzke
Lighting Designer: Giovanna Yate Gonzalez
Design Consultant: Richard Roberts
Technical Operator: Katie Williams
Video editor: Joe Lancaster
Cinematographer: Rocco Fasano
Set Builder: Justin Green

Tickets: $32-$49

WAY will be performed at fortyfivedownstairs until 12 May 2024.