QTC's That Face was on at Bille Brown Studio, 23 March - 18 April 2009.
I went to see QTC’s latest production with high hopes. Polly Stenham’s debut play That Face has been the talk of London and won many awards and critical acclaim. I came away deeply disappointed and wondering what on earth all the fuss was about.
There are a couple of possible reasons for the differences in the London and Brisbane receptions of the play. Perhaps Stenham’s writing works in an English setting but doesn’t translate well in Australia. Or perhaps the rave reviews were for the English production more than for the play and this production doesn’t have the same alchemy.
Not having been fortunate enough to see The Royal Court’s production, I will restrict myself to talking about how That Face appeared in the Bille Brown Studio in Brisbane.
Stenham’s play is about a deeply dysfunctional family. Martha, the mother, has an alcohol and prescription drug addiction and spends her days sprawled on her bed or rampaging around the house. She has a deeply disturbing and probably incestuous relationship with her 18-year-old son, Henry, who has dropped out of school to look after her. The catalyst for the play’s action is her daughter, Mia, returning home after being expelled from school for torturing a younger girl.
The actors work really hard in this production and that’s one of the problems. You can see them working and pushing for emotion and depth. Helen Howard as Martha is the glue that holds this production together but even this consummate performer has to push at times to reach the array of emotional states required. Leon Cain as Henry is the character you have most sympathy for. His role requires him to be vulnerable and angst ridden until he finally shatters on stage, but when he does this (beautifully) it’s strangely unmoving because we’ve been watching him in a similar state for the last hour and a half.
Ashley Ricardo as Mia pitches her performance in a lovely, subtle way and it’s clear that she’s a wonderful actor and someone to watch out for. I was surprised at the way so much of the marketing for That Face has focused on Mia when really she comes across as a peripheral character in this production. The journey is Martha’s and the central relationship is the damaging one she has with her son.
Carolyn Emerson’s lighting is fabulous and would appear to be a central part of Kieran Swann’s set design. The scene changes were some of my favourite moments as the fluoro pick-up sticks lights crackled and fizzed overhead and Steve Toulmin’s great music choices cranked up the volume.
That Face is Nic Dorward’s debut directing role for Queensland Theatre Company and I wish they’d given him a different play for his debut. We’ve seen him do fabulous work with Attack of the Attacking Attackers and The Greater Plague (coming soon to Brisbane Powerhouse). Non-realistic, comedic or highly dramatic work is clearly his forte and this piece wasn’t the play for him.
One of the actors making her debut in this production was Amelia Dowd and I was saddened to see how little utilised she was. She has about 5 minutes’ stage time, wearing a balaclava or wrapped in bandages for most of it, and doesn’t say a word. I went to The Royal Court’s website to check and they didn’t have a specific actor playing her role (the torture victim). At the end of Amelia’s debut production with QTC I have no inkling of what she’s like as an actor and that’s a shame.
For me, the biggest issue with this production is that I have no idea why the characters are there or why they stay. The script doesn’t have to spell this out, but it would be good if the production gave us some clues. All I saw was hateful people hurting each other and being hurt. Five minutes into the show I wanted to call out to Henry and say ‘just leave’. By the end, with no greater understanding of why he stayed, I’d lost all sympathy for him.
As you’ve probably gathered, this wasn’t a production that moved me. However, if you’re after an emotionally-charged, melodramatic night with lots of damaged characters wreaking havoc on each other, then That Face might be the play for you.
Well first up, "Push?" Helen Howard "push to get there?" Impossible! Like a good golf swing by a champion, Ms Howard's work always seems so effortless, and I thought she was on top of her game on opening night in what is from most angles, a 'bitch' of a role.
Like you I wanted to shout 'Get out now' to Henry quite early on, but I also feel the same way about George and Martha in another family play about the ties that bind - however horribly.
The point is they can't ... the drama lies in revealing why not.
'That Face' left me empty and devastated, but then it's a killer of a play. At the after-party I almost used that dreadfully overused phrase 'gutted' to describe my feelings. Instead I celebrated the power of theatre to grab you by the throat, make you laugh, cry and go on talking about what you've seen for days afterward.
Thanks for these blogs Katharine. It's terrific to be able to carry on the foyer chat online.