Roo
by Angus Strachan
La
Mama until July 20, 1997
Reviewer:
Kate Herbert around July 10, 1997
'Like taking coals to Newcastle' says Sydney
playwright Angus Strachan about bringing his footy show, Roo, in Melbourne. In
fact we haven't seen a football play for yonks; since Bouncers perhaps although that was Rugby, not real footy!
Roo is a short, pacey piece with
some peppy dialogue. Director Peter Hayes has kept it going at a cracking final
quarter pace and the three actors seem to be having fun with Strachan's blokey
repartee.
It is a simple story about conflict
behind the goal posts in a country town team. The Coach (Peter Carmody) is old
school. He believes punishment and abuse make better players and playing 'toe
to toe' will win the game.
He does not count on the
disillusionment of Stevo, his team captain and son (James Manser) and his star
goal-kicker and adoptive son, Blue (Theo Burns).
The emotional layer is more
interesting than the actual team politics and could have been further
developed. These three men have a personal history which keeps threatening to
take over the narrative. Blue may be the half-cast son of the Coach. He still
resents his half-brother's teenage escape to a big city school. 'You've gone
soft.'
The Coach's dicky ticker looks like
bursting a phoofer valve, particularly with Carmody's volatile spitfire
performance. Burns is a vigorously physical Blue and Manser provides the
necessary balance to the two loudmouths.
Strachan's dialogue is well observed
and pungent. It reeks of the clubrooms. Characters in the team have names such
as Macca, Smacka, Davo and Cactus.
Strachan incorporates a few poetic monologues
that draw parallels between the human and desert landscape. He creates a
metaphor of a big roo being hunted down. The buck stands his ground just like
the Coach under siege or the wooden-spooners under pressure.
There are odd moments when the text sounds a
little like a Marlboro ad or becomes too expository but it is well structured
with strong characterisations.
Roo touches gently on race relations and the effects of drought on a community; the team are tuckered out because they've been lugging fodder to their steers all week. If they don't beat the pack of fairy sheep farmers, they'll be history!ˇ
KATE
HERBERT
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