A Slacker Romance, No Stars Attached
The Age
Friday September 7, 2007
THE play, Jack Goes Boating by Bob Glaudini, was an off-Broadway hit in New York earlier this year starring the Oscar-winning actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Now it is opening in Melbourne at Red Stitch Theatre, a company with no interest in stars.
The actor playing Jack, David Whiteley, who is also the company's artistic director, says that Hoffman's casting in the same role in the original production gives a misleading impression of the play."It's about four ordinary people in two parallel relationships who might be called a little dysfunctional," he says. "It is a genuine ensemble work, even though it was staged originally by Labyrinth, Hoffman's company."Labyrinth specialises in plays that examine blue-collar dilemmas, such as Red Stitch's 2003 hit, Jesus Hopped the "A" Train. Whiteley says the company was keen to stage Jack Goes Boating as soon as possible after it opened in New York last March."It represents modern relationships in the contemporary world and that is perfect for us. Red Stitch represents the new generation and this aesthetic is evident in our programming choices," he says.It has been a successful year for the company, which won two Green Room awards competing against the bigger, state-funded companies, Melbourne Theatre Company and Malthouse.It has also nearly completed a renovation of its theatre behind the All Saints Church in East St Kilda and is now regularly playing to nearly full houses."There has been a real leap forward this year. Audiences are up again to around 80 per cent capacity, a level we've never reached before," he says.His colleague, Ella Caldwell, who has also been a company member since its first season in 2002, says the renovations seem to have helped increase attendances. "Comfort has been improved without being flash," she says.An audience survey has found the company's main attraction is its choice of plays, many of them by younger American writers. "We thought it was about the actors but it turns out it's their material that is what really counts."It also shows that audience members regularly attend productions by other companies, which Whiteley says underlines the importance of maintaining Red Stitch's unique identity."I think the MTC (Melbourne Theatre Company) has moved a little to the left since the coming of Red Stitch," he says. For evidence, he points to the MTC's production of Martin McDonagh's blend of torture and humour, The Pillowman, earlier this year. "We would have loved to have done it if the MTC hadn't picked it up," he says. "But, in this case, I don't think Jack Goes Boating would appeal to MTC audiences."It centres on two working-class couples. Clyde (played by Brett Cousins) and Lucy (Caldwell) set a lonely Jack up with Connie (Natalyia Novikova), a compulsively chatty trainee sales assistant.Whiteley says the characters smoke too much marijuana and lead unsettled lives. "It's a modern romance, which means that everything is always beginning over again."Jack has to learn to swim (so he can go boating with Connie) and to cook to woo her. "She is ready to accept him as he is but he is convinced he has to impress her," he says.A romantic comedy is unusual for Red Stitch, but Whiteley says it allows the company to demonstrate its mastery of naturalistic performance, even though the set will have a cartoon quality. "The focus at Red Stitch will always be on the acting and the quality of the script," he says."Other companies use videos and dance as if they don't trust naturalistic acting any more. I think it's a cop out." He says the reliance of the Malthouse on microphones in its productions seems to indicate that it is tending to a more filmic quality."We do experiment sometimes but we always come back to naturalism and everyone loves it," Caldwell adds. Jack Goes Boating opens tonight, until October 6 at Red Stitch Theatre, rear 2 Chapel Street, St Kilda, redstitch.net
© 2007 The Age