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 pool (no water)
Darlinghurst Theatre
until September 20
Bookings: (02) 8356 9987
Playwright Mark Ravenhill is behind some of my best experiences in the theatre. I think that is because of his amazing ability to voice things that most people never find the words to describe. Perhaps it is because he doesn't seem to censor himself and is willing to put on stage whatever is necessary to tell his stories. What he presents us with in pool (no water) is the narcissistic side of human nature that absolutely no one would want to own up to.
The play focuses on five artists. One is famous, the other four are still plugging away, scrapping out a living on the fringe. They have been friends since their college days and are friends twinned by the loss of loved ones to the big C and AIDS. In fact, the meteoric rise of the famous one is due to a work that used the “blood, bandages and condoms” of a departed friend, so perhaps the other four are justified in thinking the raw material for their first collaborative great work could be their own contemporary art superstar, lying in a hospital bed, crippled and in a coma. As you might have guessed, this play is not about nice people, which is not a surprise if you know any artists, but damn it if Ravenhill doesn't pull us into the narrative and make us care about these idiots who take themselves way too seriously, who are frustrated in the face of their own inadequacy, and are in denial about their resentment.
Director Anthony Skuse does a good job driving his talented actors Angela Bauer, Guy Edmonds, Sam Haft and Lisa Griffiths to find a distinct identity as well as working them well together as a disenchanted chorus seething with envy. The famous artist is only referred to and quoted but these actors make you believe she is on stage with them and she becomes a presence of innate grace that they feel lives above and beyond them.
While the production has an immediate naturalism I felt it lacked dynamism. Almost from the top of the show the staging and tone became locked into a very distinct style. There was something that felt sewn up about this production even with the actors liberated by a stripped back set by Verity Hampson and given the freedom of unassigned roles by Ravenhill.
Still I laughed and probably winced a lot. Certainly this production showcases the work of a terrific writer who continues to push back the edges of theatre with his arresting imagination.
- Veronica Hannon
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Arts & Entertainment 
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