Jeremy Waters as Rohan and Ben Wood as Rolly in The Big Time. Photo: Brett Boardman
With a broad sweep of his polished playwright’s pen, David Williamson gives us themes of betrayal, loneliness, treachery, theft, jealousy, mistrust and all kinds of skulduggery in the cut-throat world of entertainment, aka The Big Time. No doubt he has had plenty of material to draw on, given his five decades’ association in the heady world of show biz, and his pen is as sharp as it ever was.
Unfortunately, I found the three main characters in this work so unlikeable that it made it difficult to care what happened to any of them. An arrogant, self-absorbed writer by the name of Rohan Black (Jeremy Waters) and his self-satisfied actor partner Celia Constanti (Alienn Huynh) live in coastal splendour thanks to her role in a long running soapie. Enter fellow actor and aspiring director Vicki Fielding (Claudia Barrie), also arrogant as well as opinionated and supremely confident, to tell her friend and long-time rival Celia (they met at drama school) that she is compromising her talent and needs to get out more.
Aileen Huynh and Claudia Barrie. Photo: Brett Boardman
It is pretty obvious that Vicki is a manipulative little cow (just imagine, all that ambition!); that Rohan has lost the plot (he might be insecure but in what world do writers tell producers where to get off?); and that Celia is just too goody-two shoes to be true (she chucks up the lucrative gig to do ‘real’ work). Matt Minto is the producer, Nate, who struts his smug self around in a suit that’s too tight and has, perforce, to kow-tow to Mammon and his executive. No doubt they are all horribly believable, but (with the exception of Rohan) a little more backstory wouldn’t have gone amiss.
By way of contrast we have Rohan’s old mate Rolly (Ben Wood), a good bloke beset by problems of a non fame-chasing kind: he has a heart condition, a wife who’s run off with a real estate agent, and an unmarried daughter newly pregnant. He’s lost his house, he has no dosh, he’s been reduced to Uber driving, but he’s also got an idea for a script. Maybe Rohan would take a look?
Maybe. Will Rohan Black (note the surname) help his old mate? Will Celia Constanti (note the surname) stick by her man? Will Vicki do the dirty? Will Rolly Pierce survive the curve balls life has thrown at him?
The Big Time unwinds predictably without any real surprises and with little tension, even with the best efforts of the cast (which also includes Zoe Carides as Vicki’s and Celia’s agent) and the undoubted ability of director Mark Kilmurry.
Of course, there are some trademark Williamson moments, and a few laughs and a little bit of redemption, but overall I found it quite bleak. Late in the play one of the characters declares “Life is about making do.” Yep, that may be so, but we all hope for something more.
David Williamson’s The Big Time is at the Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli, until March 16.
