Adelaide Repertory Theatre. Arts Theatre. 18 Jun 2015
It's Just Sex had the appellation of a tawdry British farce but instead American playwright Jeff Gould's second play is a saucy and comedic excogitation on what is normally just a thought bubble at your average suburban drinks party - How much fun would it be if we go to bed with each other's partner?
After a racy start more at home in a porn movie, and a vignette of the state of coupledom in the three marriages, our tense but salubrious six-some turns salacious. The scene is set for something to happen after a few cocktails (I love the way Americans get plastered on cocktails and not beer and wine), but unlike Don's Party it's not election night, it's erection night. And following any good car wreck, there is a lot of excited talk and psycho-babble about what just happened. Gould doesn't waste words - he quickly closes in on coitus and the first act is over in 37 minutes.
Director Erik Strauts has chosen such a wonderful cast that I was completely convinced I was a fly on the wall. Bronwyn Ruciak, James Whitrow, Tess O'Flaherty, Jonathan Johnston, Sharon Pitardi and Luke Budgen each produced well rounded and naturalistic characterisations and shone in their turn on centre stage. Lines are delivered with expert deadpan and the jokes are good with many surprising big laughs. But something in the writing made momentum difficult to attain.
Playwright Gould has an interesting track record with marriage and he likes to tell the world about it. His first play was Troubled Waters - the kind you find in matrimony - and he and his ex did a live comedy routine for 19 months. But his chauvinism still comes barging through. The male characters in this play arrive or rise to self-assurance and show off their sexual philosophy, while the females don't seem to get it and need straightening out. Hurt and perplexity were well communicated by Pitardi, O'Flaherty and especially by Ruciak, whose host and game-leader Joan carried more important baggage than the other wives. In fact, it's very interesting to see people provoked into doing something they normally wouldn't do by somebody who has hidden, ulterior, and selfish motives, like revenge. It's manipulating, and Ruciak - and James Whitrow as Joan's husband, Phil - played with sensitivity and intrigue a poignant psychological drama. Better than Don's Party.
Director Strauts didn't see the need to employ any contemporary music which would certainly have jazzed up the production, and the lighting was a complete schmozzle with all the action stage right taking place in theatrical dusk (lighting design: Richard Parkhill). Costumes were great but there is no credit for them in the program, so maybe the actors just wore what they liked, I don't know.
The whole concept harks back to the swinging '70s and the keys in the bowl thing, which now seems a little old fashioned, but it's still one of the great naughty thoughts we have - thinking hopefully that there are no consequences and nobody gets hurt - and if you believe It's Just Sex, it leads to good outcomes, so I guess the play is inspiring? This excellently performed and nicely directed production deserved a much bigger audience than the quarter-full house I was part of on opening night. So take your partner and at least one other couple you like a lot.
David Grybowski
When: 18 to 27 Jun
Where: Arts Playhouse
Bookings: trybooking.com
