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| Adam (Nick Clark), Steve (Adam Garner) and Chad (Alex Thew) in Truly Madly Britney at Theatre Works Photo: Lachlan Woods |
Adam and Steve, a gay couple from Australia, have maxed-out
two credit cards to travel to the Mecca of hyper-consumerism, Las Vegas, to see
Britney Spears with a meet-and-greet after. Their relationship is under some
pressure from the money they’ve spent on the trip so far, though Steve (Adam
Garner) assures Adam (Nick Clark) that the whole experience is bringing them
closer together.
They are staying in suburban Vegas with Chad Hardcastle, a
hyper-masculine, good ol’ Christian, definitely heterosexual, Britney stan,
whose obsession with the pop-star rivals Steve’s – except Chad thinks he and
Britney are going to get married.
After Britney sprains her ankle and the concert Adam and
Steve were supposed to attend gets cancelled, Steve’s mania about meeting the
megastar goes into hyper-drive. Upon meeting Judy and her son Kevin, who is
getting to meet Britney through the Grant-A-Wish Foundation, Steve starts to
concoct a plan to attain his goal – and will let nothing get in his way.
Alberto Di Troia’s play is an anarchic satire on consumerism
and pop-culture obsession. It is a beautifully crafted script that also tackles America’s
gun culture and toxic masculinity. It’s such a pleasure to see a new work that
has been so well developed before its first production.
Under the excellent direction of Hannah Fallowfield, Truly Madly Britney is wild but also
finds time to dig into real truths – about the pressure of relationships,
friendship and family. An uncomfortably awkward sex scene between Adam and
Steve tells us as much about their history as their shouted arguments about
forgotten dreams and the push-and-pull over how far they will go to meet Ms
Spears.
Kudos to Bethany J Fellows, whose remarkably simple set
& costumes choices really does elevate the text. Everything is on wheels for
quick set changes – and costume changes are done right there in front of us,
too. To stage manager, Lowana Ellis, and assistant stage manager, Max Woods, you
have my highest respect for the expert scene transitions and for the execution
and clean-up of the vomit.
Adam Garner’s Steve is volatile – always on the edge of saying
or doing something completely outrageous. Garner plays him like a over-shaken
bottle of Coke, ready to explode at any moment. And somehow in his performance,
he never makes the character grating or repetitive. Even in his worst moments,
there’s a fascination to watching Steve mutate and grow further out of control.
Nick Clark’s Adam is more reserved, and very much on-edge.
He may collapse at any moment from exhaustion; Clark finds a real human truth
in the stresses of Adam and Steve’s relationship. Amongst the glitz and the high-volume
energy of the play, Adam has a couple of quiet moments that Clark nails –
reminding us of the people they were before this adventure.
Alex Thew’s Chad is just delightful in his focus and
obliviousness to everything else going on around him. Louisa Wall’s Judy
commands the stage whenever she is on it; the already tall actor is in heels
for most of the show, so she towers over everyone – a performance you cannot
take your eyes off.
The content of the show pushes the boundaries of good taste,
absolutely. It’s difficult to see how a satire on these particular aspects of our
culture could be done with anything that approaches subtlety anyway. These are
colourful characters to begin with – but push them into situations that have
spun out of their control in a landscape that is driven by glitz, glamour and
obsession by design, no wonder we’re confronted with an ending that’s both a
release of sexual energy and horrific violence.
Alberto Di Troia and Hannah Fallowfield should be enormously
proud of their achievement here. Truly
Madly Britney is smart, sharp, hilarious and profane. The road to Britney
is paved with good intentions, but also cancer, vomit, awkward sex, guns, declarations
of love and a shaved head. All in homage to the pop diva – and as a warning
that we all might go too far in our obsessions.
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