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| Wil King as Shane in Strangers in Between Photo: Sarah Walker |
Shane (Wil King) is young. He’s run away from his family in Goulburn
and he’s arrived in Sydney, finding a job at a bottle-o in King’s Cross. He can’t
afford a fridge, doesn’t know how to cook and isn’t sure where coat hangers
come from.
He’s dazzled by the wild nightlife, while being terrified of
sex workers and drug addicts. He has no friends and no support in Sydney until
he makes a couple of new friends who are buying alcohol – Will (Guy Simon) and Peter
(Simon Burke).
Will is a young guy, ready to party and have fun with Shane.
Peter is middle-aged and has seen a lot over his years but no less-likely to
want to have fun with Shane.
Shane, though, is struggling with how to express his
sexuality as much as he is wrestling with the simple parts of living an adult
life far away from home. He’s also haunted by how he was treated by his brother,
Ben (also Guy Simon); Ben beat him up when he discovered Shane having sex with
a school mate.
Tommy Murphy’s play was first performed at Griffin Theatre
in Sydney in 2005. It’s a period piece now, set in a time before smart phones
and hook up apps – and in a world where posting a letter can be a prominent plot
point. It feels no less relevant or authentic in the territory it covers,
though; the decade or so since lends a helpful distance to the material.
Director Daniel Lammin’s choice to strip everything back is a solid choice and shows confidence in the script. Murphy’s writing demands
strong actors to revel in the humour and dig into the emotion. Lammin trusts
his performers and the text enough to get out of their way; some scenes are
almost static, which heightens the tension and the drama.
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| Wil King & Simon Burke, Strangers in Between Photo: Sarah Walker |
Abbie-Lea Hough’s set and costume design is simple but
striking. Strips of silver shimmer like the curtain on a nightclub stage; a
bath sits in the centre, an inviting and an awkward meeting place. Rob Sowinski’s
lighting is subtle but effective and vital to orienting the audience to where
the characters are next.
As Shane, Wil King runs a mile-a-minute. His performance
captures the nervous tension of the first day on a new job, being away from
home for the first time, enthusiastically exploring his sexuality and having
outbursts of anger and shame. A creation full of vitality.
Guy Simon and Simon Burke ably support Shane’s first taste
of responsibility and a sexually transmitted disease. Burke’s Peter
occasionally falls into stereotype, but this feels fitting for Shane’s story
and his befriending a world-weary homosexual man who has watched friends die
and King’s Cross change. He fits into that world in a way Shane is scared he
never will.
Guy Simon playing the dual roles of Will and Ben gets to
have fun with contrast; the costume change is the wearing and removal of a red flannel
shirt. Will is as outgoing as Ben feels dangerous. And it’s great to see an Indigenous
actor on stage in a role not written specifically as Aboriginal.
Strangers in Between
is about the families we make as we move out into the world, whether or not we run
away from our biological families at the same time. In the decade since this
show was first performed around the corner from where it’s set, King’s Cross
may have calmed down, marriage equality may be a reality, but coming out can
still be a struggle – smart phones or not.
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| Guy Simon & Wil King, Strangers in Between Photo: Sarah Walker |
Strangers in Between is currently on at 45 Downstairs in Melbourne until February 11 as part of the Midsumma Festival.
Note: another production of the play is currently on the
West End in London. If you’re in London, you should go. It’s a well-reviewed transfer from off-West End from 2016. It closes next weekend.
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