Alex Malone and Jane Phegan. Photo: Danielle Lyonne.
Canadian playwright Adam Bock’s Before the Meeting is an astute and – perhaps inevitably – a rather sad examination of the after-effects of addiction. At its heart are remorse and compassion.
Every day in a room a church basement, Gail (Jane Phegan) and the regular members of her ‘coffee committee’ set things up for the AA meeting to come. Gail has her routine, things must be done her way. Routine is what keeps her going, change is scary (not that she will admit that first up). Pregnant Nicole wisecracks her way through her day, trying to ignore the fact she’s in abusive relationship. Cranky old Ron (Tim McGarry) wants to be heard; he thinks no one is listening to him – and often they are not. Tim (Tim Walker) is a new recruit, unsure what to make of himself, or whether attending AA will do any good whatsoever. But he is welcomed in, made to feel useful. Gail likes to feel wanted.
Bock lures us in, making us wonder if something will turn out better for Nicole, whose partner doesn’t want their baby. And when middle-aged Gail hears from her estranged granddaughter, things ramp up for her. This could be the start of something good. She has not been in touch with either her daughter or granddaughter for many years.
Gradually, in designer Martin Kinnane’s functional and believable basement room where all is bland and utilitarian, and where there is no natural light, we learn more about all four characters. Only Gail’s back story is told in full, and what a story it is. It is the only time we are in the AA meeting itself. With the houselights up, Gail sits alone in her chair, relating her journey into addiction, progressing from blame to ownership of her actions. It’s a ten-minute monologue and Phegan delivers it superbly. She is filled with remorse, and we feel her pain.
The fifth character in this play, which is directed by Kim Hardwick for White Box Theatre, is Gail’s daughter Angela. Ariadne Sgouros bursts into the room, making the most of her cameo role, and delivering some searing home truths of her own – mostly at variance with the truths we have just heard from Gail. Angela is furious with her mother; a fury that seems unlikely to abate any time soon.
The acting throughout is precise and nuanced. Malone’s vulnerable Nicole is ever-watchful; McGarry’s Ron mocks Gail at times, but his body language speaks of his own defeats; we feel the defensiveness in Walker’s nervous Tim. Angela’s incandescent exposé of her mother sends an already agitated Gail deeper into anxiety. Bock’s characters are carefully drawn and this cast, under Hardwick’s careful and effective direction, lets us see them for who they are. Human beings in all their fallibility, trying to find a way to be better.
Before the Meeting runs until 11 June. Tickets: from $33 to $49
Details: www.seymourcentre.com or (02) 9061 5344
