Ruben Guthrie, Wander Theatre and National University Theatre Society, Act Hub, Causeway Hall, 25-27 May 2023

 

Brendan Cowell's 2008 comedy, developed from his own experiences after he stopped drinking, is probably his best known play - it's the peak of what was a very promising writing career in the late 2000s, when Cowell had written a series of smart, modern comedy-dramas for indie theatres and the indie-wings of the more established theatres (this was originally a B-Sharp downstairs piece at Belvoir street and graduated to the main stages). I've previously reviewed the last NUTS production in 2013 (linked here) - now, a further decade since its premiere, Cowell's shining spotlight as the next great Australian playwright has mostly slipped away as he's leaned towards his alternate career as an actor (recently onstage in England at the National Theatre's "The Crucible", the Young Vic's "Yerma" and on film in "Avatar The Way of Water"), occasionally also issuing a novel or two. In many ways it's an angry young man's play, for good and bad - it's very good at getting the intensity of emotion out of the situations Ruben finds himself in, but not so great at reflecting on the damage that anger causes to those around him (much like John Osborne's original Angry Young Man play, "Look back in Anger"). 

Ruben is a golden boy of the advertising industry - we meet him just after he's won a major industry award for the fourth time running - but dramatic circumstances have led him to his first addiction recovery meeting. The play develops as Ruben's solo monologues at these recovery meetings alternate with scenes with his partner, his parents, and his employer - and as he integrates recovery into his life, how each of them push back against his recovery and how the give and take between him and a member of his recovery group starts to turn into a relationship. It's a great opportunity for Cowell to show his skill for sharp brutal dialogue and to paint a semi-self-portrait that is not entirely flattering while reflecting on Australian culture's relationship with alcohol causes significant damage. 

Wander theatre's inaugural production plays this in traverse, in a fairly minimal staging with the cast on stage the entire time (serving as recovery-group members and stage crew during the frequent shifts of location) - using nine wooden boxes and four wine-racks to cover Ruben's travels from office to apartments to hospitals. In all honesty, I do wish the staging was a little bit more minimal - there's a lot of reconfiguring of the boxes between scenes which slows the pace - but the wine racks form good oppressive walls around Ruben as they close in around him, locking him off from easy escapes. This may also be a good spot to point out the ACT Hub's continual mild problem with sightlines - the raking of the seating means that anybody in an even-numbered row is probably directly behind someone who's blocking off their view, so if you're going to see this, get in early to get in one of the odd-numbered rows.

Sam Collingwood gives Ruben a certain amount of ruthless charm and lets the charm pall as Ruben spirals out of control. Maxine Eayrs as recovery partner Virginia is very much her own independent woman, not just a tool in Ruben's recovery box (though the character does suffer from some inconsistent writing - the only significant moment she shares with another female character is a scene of both women fighting over Ruben - it's a sudden sign of Cowell's limitations that apparently he can't conceive of women doing anything more interesting together than fighting over a guy). Mischa Rippon as friend/tempter/agent-of-chaos Damian is delightfully twisted and engaging. Grace Fletcher plays Ruben's fiance with her own independent strength, though is only used sparingly in the writing. Richard Manning as employer Ray has the soulless advertising surface charm and inner ruthlessness just right. Adele Lewin as Ruben's mum has surprising depths as we see her own issues emerge through the story, and Anthony Mayne as Ruben's straying dad shows just the right side of carefully strategic selective-deafness to his son's needs. 

In short, this is a strong launch piece for Wander Theatre, showcasing a number of actors I've not seen this much of before in a play of depth and integrity. Recommended for those looking for something with a little meat on its bones.