The Simple Truth by Michael Gurr
Playbox Theatre at Beckett Theatre, Malthouse
Sept 12 until October 5, 2002
Reviewer: Kate
Herbert
There is a
disturbing quality to Michael Gurr's new play, The Simple Truth. It challenges an audience to stay
alert, to keep abreast of its wave-like motion and to comprehend its twists and
abstractions.
It begins enigmatically,
with a man engaged in a one-sided conversation with a silent and frightened woman.
The air is thick with menace. He seems threatening.
Hirst, (Kim Gyngell) the man, we discover to be a police officer.
Sarah, (Josephine Byrnes) the distressed woman, came to him to confess. We
know neither to what crime nor even whether she committed a crime at all.
The premise of this
play is interesting. What constitutes a crime? Is neglect, lack of interest or an
unwillingness to help a crime?
As this bewildering
relationship develops, we are compelled to ask why the pair seem so intimate so
quickly and what is the simple truth of her 'crime'.
The play has an
unusual construction. It begins with long monologues: the first from Hirst, the
second from Sarah. Eventually they converse. The play is dense with cryptic dialogue
and is demanding on the ear.
Gyngell is both entertaining
and menacing as the pseudo-intellectual cop while Byrnes provides a finely
tuned performance as the fragile and despairing Sarah.
Bruce Myles adroitly directs the two actors with a
light hand. There is little physical action so the focus is on the speaking
character much of the time.
Glenn Hughes' lighting creates deep shadows and
evocative atmosphere. Andrew Pendlebury's original live guitar is a fine adjunct
to the production. It provides the necessary emotional layer. Judith Cobb's design replicates an interrogation room
with Pendelbury seated upstage framed by what could be a two-way mirror.
The play is short
and clever. The writing is witty, characters are smart and engage in
entertaining repartee and romantic fantasy. What it lacks is an emotional
connection for the audience.
There seems to be
some connective tissue missing from the narrative or, at least, from the relationship
between the two characters. They are pushed suddenly and inexplicably into
intimacy, shared fantasy and flirtation. The leaps are not totally unconvincing
and make the outcome a little unsatisfying.
Despite this, The
Simple Truth is a short and intense experience in the theatre.
By Kate Herbert
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