By Jane Bodie
at
Beckett Theatre, Malthouse Dec 6 to 15, 2001
Reviewer: Kate
Herbert
The storyline of Jane
Bodie's witty two-hander, Ride, might be outside of some people's experience
altogether. We can only hope so.
A young man and woman wake up naked in a bed together. They
have no idea who the other is, how they met, how they got home nor whether they
- um - actually had sex.
Both are hung over and suffering a frustrating selective
amnesia. The important parts of the night before are obliterated.
The woman is performed energetically by Fiona Macleod. She
brings to the role a vibrating anxiety and playful uncertainty.
As her lover or non-lover, Christopher Brown is delightfully
underplayed and subtle.
The two dance around each other emotionally. She tries to
leave but her shoe is missing, and her bra, and her handbag and phone and,
well, her memory.
Bodie's dialogue is swift, often hilarious and cleverly
wrought. She never wastes a word.
Thoughts fly in unexpectedly and we are constantly surprised.
The characters are beautifully observed, inner-urban ('It's
Northcote but some people call it North Fitzroy') contemporary 20 somethings.
They try to maintain distance while inwardly panicking about
their apparent intimacy. They try to separate but end up playing scrabble on
the bed where they had - or didn't - have sex.
Bodie, who also directs the play deftly, keeps the pace
cantering along. Three scenes are defined by the shift of the bed on stage so
we view them from a new angle each time. The design (by Simon Terrill, Jane
Fullerton) for the Northcote bedroom is established sparingly by the outline
of a window frame, a plant and pile of books and a mirror.
Music by Carl Pannuzzo and evocative and unobtrusive
lighting by Michele Preshaw enhance the mystery of the play.
The beauty of the piece is in the unfolding of their secret
selves to a virtual stranger with whom they feel strangely safe and comfortable
with intermittent bursts of insecurity and doubt.
It is fascinating to watch two characters trapped by their
own devices in a room in a single day as we follow their developing
relationship from strangers to almost strangers. They could be an axe-murderers
for all they know.
This is a delightful play with two warm and committed
performances from Macleod and brown.
By Kate Herbert
for 2 pages:
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