Sunshine - Red Stitch Actors Theatre

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Tue 11 Oct 2016 - Sat 05 Nov 2016

The world premiere of Tom Holloway's 'Sunshine' at demands a lot from its audience. From the outset on the darkened stage, four shadowy figures hold neon strip lights aloft. Four characters and four different monologues all in the same or a similar setting. The audience is unsure as they take in references to Hansen, Billy Joel and toothpaste. Are they in or outside a supermarket? In a carpark, in a car? Or all at the same time? The characters seem to glimpse each other around corners, across the road or from a distance.

Four narrative threads. Words bouncing off walls and colliding, yet all have a random sequence. The monologues are interspersed with songs by Billy Joel and Hansen. The characters are all full of hope and expectation of the evening ahead. A couple (Philip Hayden and Ella Caldwell) are meeting up, yet end up breaking up. A woman (Caroline Lee) is mourning for her dead husband and drives around with his ashes in an urn. A man (George Lingard) is in a supermarket and then in pursuit of a man in the darkness of the city streets.

I could feel myself leaning forward in my seat to follow the threads of the stories, to join the dots and to make sense of the streams of consciousness. I felt that I was observing a theatrical tennis match with my head bobbing from side to side and my brain doing gymnastics to keep up.

All the performers are strong, however, it was Lee who stood out with her portrayal of the grieving widow, her stillness and sadness and poignancy heart-rending to watch. Caldwell's younger woman was cocky, yet vulnerable and playful. Philip Hayden's Man 2 reflecting his love was vulnerable and tender. Lingard's character' s initial sunniness and cheekiness belied his darker side.

The audience receives a respite from the four-part monologue as Lee and Hayden play out the final scene. There was a shift back to conventional dialogue, which was a relief and displayed the acting chops of Lee and Hayden.

This is not a play for the fainthearted. It is for those who like challenging theatre—both audience and actors. The director, Kirsten von Bibra, said in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, "You've got to… really wanting to follow the characters… you have to make a choice to tune into one of those voices."

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!date 11/10/2016 -- 05/11/2016
%wnmelbourne