Review: What’s Yours at Red Stitch

Review by Greg Gorton

There are few as emotionally charged political debates as those around the woman’s right to have or not have a child. There is a stigma still attached to the woman who is intentionally child-free, an often not-asked-for pity given to those women who are unable to give birth, and (despite it being the 21st century) still a “debate” regarding the right to safe abortions. What’s Yours is a confronting, honest, and compassionate look at these issues, framed in an intense love triangle that reminds us of the intimate relationships at stake when these issues are faced.

Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre has a long and consistent reputation of putting on highly polished original works, and having the privilege to workshop and produce something by Keziah Warner must have been quite an exciting experience. The final performance swims in high energy enthusiasm for the work, and no corners are cut.

The set design by Bianca Pardo is modern, uncomplicated, and unobtrusive. What’s Yours isn’t a play for which space or setting means much, but there is a need for visuals that evoke both modernism and warmth. A central tall table, a few chairs, a long bench that plays many roles, these are all that exist and all that are required to capture a contemporary world of successful professionals who have homes and loves. It carefully gives an appearance of the simple, in all the very best meanings of the word.

The sound design that hums slightly above the productions is rarely noticed, bar carefully-placed beats that could suggest reminders of the themes. Grace Ferguson and Ethan Hunter have created an aural world that draws us into this play and then steps kindly aside.

Kevin Hofbauer, Carissa Lee, and Christina O’Neill make the three thirty-somethings in this love triangle, and each is seen as comfortable in their character. While Hofbauer’s Simon is perhaps a little too manic, his chemistry with Christina O’Neill’s Jo is strong. While the same can not be said of him with Carissa Lee’s Lia, the chemistry between the two women is where the show really makes its mark. This story, to me at least, is about these two women, their relationships, their differences, and their love.

For a play that can be quite confronting, or can even touch quite sensitive nerves, the actors have a real empathy for the situation of their characters. Carissa Lee gives an exceptionally powerful performance as a woman who just wants to be a mother, who knows logically that others might not want to, but just cannot understand why.

I do think overall that the direction of this performance would have benefited from more experimentation with pacing. So many places where a real pause, or sigh, or physical contact would have enhanced the production greatly, and not being afraid to add another ten minutes to the already short run time would have helped. This was no more evident than when Simon asked Jo to “say something” after a bare two seconds had passed…

Of course, what I really want to talk about is this script. I actively sought out to review this play (am I allowed to admit that?) because I’ve been a close follower of Warner’s work since she co-created “Poona”, and I was extremely fascinated by the idea of her writing a rather more “pedestrian” form of theatre. For the good and the (barely) bad of the production, I just couldn’t wait to talk about this script.

This is a story that is torn between two worlds. In one, there is the political discourse around childbirth, IVF, abortions, sexism, and all these things entail. While Warner is clear in her positions, there are times where it feels like she cannot neglect any side topic for fear that audiences will think it doesn’t matter. While it is true that the experience for men (who should have no say in abortions, and can still have kids in their eighties) is vastly different than for women. Did this need to be explicitly covered, though, or could it simply sit in subtext? And is there a chance that not every actor needs the chance to monologue a long list of examples to prove a (admittedly important) point?

Meanwhile, this love-triangle drama covers two women who were once closest friends, who still care long after separation, and the man who has (and does) love them both… It’s just so very compelling. Here, the wittiness, the chemistry-on-page, and the true-to-life conversations are heartwrenchingly on point. Not as crass as Mamet’s “Sexual Perversity” or as uptight as Pinter’s “Betrayal”, there is still that hyper-realism we love from such dramas - the desire that our flirtations were as classy, that our apologies as understandable.

Of course when these two elements (the intimacy and the politics), come together, the play is peak theatre.

What’s Yours is the latest proof that Australia’s playwrights are the best in the world, and our independent theatre companies the best places to experience them. While the show would have benefitted from some breathing room, with an incredible design team and phenomenal actors, this remarkable script has had an incredible birth and you should definitely see it while you can.

Image Credit: Ben Fon