Tom Hobbs, Tony Martin and Helen Thomson. Photo: Heidrun Lohr
Engrossing from start to finish, this dream team combo or writer Andrew Bovell and director Neil Armfield – plus an excellent cast – is a must-see.
It’s about family. An ‘ordinary’ family. One most of us can relate to. What they will do for each other, what parents will do for their kids, how kids feel for their parents, what each expects, what each accepts, how every generation of parents wants things to be better for their kids, and how it is all wrapped up in love and protection.
We start and end in a suburban backyard. This one is instantly recognisable, thanks to set designer Stephen Curtis, with its durabond fencing and faded green plastic table and chairs. It belongs to Bob (Tony Martin), now retrenched from his assembly line job and killing time by cultivating his beloved roses, and Fran (Helen Thomson), a busy professional nurse and mother. They have four kids, and love them all. Bob thinks they will all be mini (but better) versions of himself and Fran, but of course he is setting himself up for disappointment. Fran is more pragmatic, she loves her children to the nth degree, but her defences have been up for some time. She’s
Anna Lise Phillips and Tony Martin. Photo: Heidrun Lohr.
the one with insight, Bob’s the dreamer.
There’s an element of foreboding right from the start, but first let’s meet the family.
Rose (Miranda Daughtry), the baby of the brood, has just ran back home from a backpacking holiday in Europe, bringing with her a broken heart. Mum, Dad and her siblings welcome her with open arms.
Time moves on. A year in the lives of the Price family, a seasonal focus for each of the adult children, marked by the blooms and prunings of Bob’s rose bushes. Pip (Anna Lise Phillips) is married, with kids and a career, and a husband she’s about to leave. Unsurprisingly, her parents are upset. One of the best scenes of a great evening of theatre is Pip reading the revealing and honest letter she sends to her mother from Canada (they are more alike than Fran would like to admit).
Bob and Fran might be great parents but Mark (Tom Hobbs) is loath to tell them his heart’s desire. When he does, they can’t accept him. It’s sad. It’s believable.
Ben (Matt Levett) is the least likeable character, a yuppie in love with the status symbols and the world of finance. He brings out all Bob’s insecurities, and then he brings himself down. Fran, as ever, is there to shore things up.
Bovell shows us ourselves, our worries, our aspirations, our pitfalls. How do we live our own lives honestly; how do we stand up for what we believe in; what should we sacrifice and why; what should we strive for? This play is human in scale, and huge in its observations. It could have fallen flat, but with Armstrong’s direction and this six-strong cast it never does. The final scenes are deeply memorable.
Each actor excels, but it would be a different production without Thomson, whose performance as the all-seeing matriarch Fran is just too good not to single out. When she is on the stage, which is most of the time, she commands attention with her brilliant timing and nuanced performance.
Highly recommended. Until 21 July
