Review: THE HOUSEWARMING at Goodwood Theatre and Studios

Review by Lisa Lanzi

James Watson and his collaborators at independent theatre company Famous Last Words have built a reputation for delivering quality, thought-provoking productions, and The Housewarming continues this tradition. Watson's direction, as always, is considered and pertinent, and marked by an intelligence that refuses to let audiences sit comfortably. For a playwright to direct their own work is often a risk, the proximity to the material sometimes clouding objectivity. Yet backed by excellent training and experience, Watson's insight proves to be of a high calibre. His choices throughout the production demonstrate a director in command of both text and staging, and I found myself admiring many of them.

The Housewarming features Emilia Williams, Virginia Blackwell, Chris Gun, and Daniel Fryar-Calabro on stage in the roles of Steph, Phoebe, Michael, and Nick respectively. Each performer embodied their role with utter focus, creating a quartet of characters whose tensions and contradictions feel painfully real.  For me, it was Emilia Williams who shone with a supreme ability to convey deep emotions within stillness.  She communicated volumes in the spaces between words, her silences as eloquent as any monologue.

Chris Gun and Daniel Fryar-Calabro portrayed their disparate characters with fine physicality, while their delivery of Watson's text highlighted social differences between their characters. Gun was in motion much of the time, presumably to present the underlying restlessness of his character - a constantly searching, never quite settled individual. Fryar-Calabro gave a wonderful rendering of a privileged male assured of his position and success in the world, like entitlement made flesh.

Virginia Blackwell masterfully gave us the complex character of Phoebe. We saw glimpses of her past lower socio-economic life amid the carefully constructed façade of her current 'influencer' persona - a woman living in a home provided by Nick's parents, navigating the chasm between who she was and who she now performs herself to be.

Powerful questions come to mind as this play unfolds: How do we make important choices about our future? Are we shaped in positive or destructive ways by such choices? How does one navigate friendship alongside rivalry? What defines love and attachment in a relationship?  

Beside such personal questions, Watson's text highlights many contemporary issues with unflinching clarity. Societal and class bias, the relevance and costs of higher education, an imbalance in generational attitudes, and the horrendous inequities surrounding rental and home ownership all find their way into the dialogue and subtext. The spectre of social media influence raises further issues concerning hard reality versus projected, 'curated' appearance plus the level of personal identity and morality an individual might be comfortable sacrificing for the sake of image.

This is a richly dense and complex text. If perhaps slightly too long, it would benefit from some further dramaturgical finesse to tighten the slightly too long work. I would very much like to see The Housewarming have another life; I believe it would tour interstate very well and deserves audiences beyond Adelaide.

The Housewarming is quite riveting for the audience, who sit on two sides of the space while the action takes place traverse-style upon the stage of the Goodwood Theatre. This intimate setting is both confronting and exciting, giving us uncomfortable proximity to the overall tension and all the comedic or tragic moments that punctuate the narrative.

Steven Durey's lighting is expertly rendered, carving the stage area and action into varied, abstract but recognisable spaces and moments. Composer Oscar Sarre delivers a perfect sound score that sits well beside each juncture of the story, however never overwhelming.

Fight choreography by Kate Owen is expertly set, and Owen also serves as intimacy coordinator, a necessary inclusion for contemporary performance these days. The 'set' is deliberately minimal: a floating floor, one upholstered bench moved by the actors, a table with cheese platter at one edge, and across the space a small bar cart with glasses and bottles of liquor. This spareness throws the focus entirely onto the performers and the language, trusting the audience to imagine the world around them.

I recommend The Housewarming to Adelaide audiences for its patently relevant themes, the honed performances, and also to support local, professional independent theatre. We need new voices so desperately—both to keep the artform thriving and developing and to reflect our shifting worldview as we progress through such uncertain times. Watson and Famous Last Words remind us why independent theatre matters: it asks the questions mainstream stages often avoid, and it does so with craft, courage, and care.

Image Credit: Philippos Ziakas