Read: Book review: Personal Score, Ellen van Neerven Theoretically it may seem to grapple with current themes of social housing, urban high-rises and affordability, but these very real and important topics are never really dealt with and form only the backdrop to the plight of a very secure middle-class couple who are personally unaffected by the housing crisis except to speculate and trade in enterprise about future home creation. Overall, the play seems an odd and perhaps out of touch choice for an Australian stage in 2023. A special mention must go to Linda Nicholls-Gidley, whose role as dialect coach has resulted in accents that draw no attention to themselves, but support the establishment of class, time and place within the play. Both manage beautifully to invite the audience into the world of Benefactors without being overt or kitsch. Set and costume design by Nick Fry is aesthetically 1960s, but stylistically contemporary. They are brilliant bringers of toxicity to the wholesome world of Jane and David, and work against David’s optimism. Drury is convincing in playing a woman who has no substance of her own and is beaten down by a narcissistic partner. A bit childlike in his joy and weak in his dependence on his wife, he’s an almost unflappable, likeable and altogether believable man.ĭrury’s Sheila is a pathetic simp of a woman she contrasts well against her husband, Colin, as played by Minto, who is a large, overconfident character. Ever calm, her ability to create a complex and multilayered woman is foundational within the world of the story.Īs played by Davies, David is more simple a figure. Cool and hip as a 1960s wife and mother, she is the contemporary equivalent of the “super mum”. As anthropologist Jane, Palmer is the bedrock of the household and the play. The cast of Benefactors are balanced in their energy and performance as an ensemble. The way movement and stillness are used offers the play a contemporary aesthetic and creates a visually interesting display. The players rarely leave the stage, but simply stand or sit, allowing action or inaction to direct the audience’s focus. The structure of the play is a series of long monologues delivered directly to the audience, interspersed with scenes of group interaction and movement at once simple and highly stylised. This enables a flawless collaboration between writer, actors and the creative team. He allows the construction on the page to act as the template on which all else is built. This motif is symptomatic of the time before television started luring people away from this central piece of furniture and family life.ĭirection by Mark Kilmurray is nuanced and patient, where the players are encouraged to let the writing play its part. Almost everything in the play happens around the dinner table. The nuclear family is still operating in a traditional English model, exemplified through David and Jane’s marriage and home, which creates a secure fulcrum that withstands all manner of crises. Benefactors is quiet and conservative in its language, befitting the period in which it is set.
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