MAT’s Living Together
By John Swartz
What happens when you put 6 people together for a weekend at the old homestead? What if there are various degrees of dislike for each other involved? And what if the story is written as a comedy?
The people are a man, his two sisters, his wife, a brother-in-law and another man who I still haven’t figured out why he’s in the play. Reg (Ian Munday) seems to be the central character, though Norman (Peter Merkle) I’m going to guess is the character the trilogy of plays under the banner, The Norman Conquests, is the central character through the first and third part of the trilogy. Living Together is the title of this middle play Mariposa Arts Theatre is doing this week and next at the Opera House.
Certainly the drama, the dynamics tie back to Norman, though in this bit of the story, he seems to be just floating through something set up in the first play. It doesn’t matter. Alan Ayckbourn wrote each to stand alone, so you aren’t missing out because some information is missing. There’s enough to go on; he had an affair with Annie (Vanessa Leslie) and we are witnessing the regret and fallout.
Tom (Paul Barrie) has hope something can happen between him and Annie, but he’s so clueless jokes have to be explained to him, he doesn’t pick up on verbal or physical cues, and when he gets older his phone number will be passed around like candy among scammers.
Sarah (Janet-Lynne Durnford) doesn’t like anybody who doesn’t do exactly what she wants them to do. But, she can run hot and cold with the flick of a wrist, just like the dial on the hotel shower. People put up with her load of sometimes sugar-coated, sometimes not, worm food.
That leaves Ruth (Laurel Dewar). She’s married to Norman. She knows what’s going on with Norman, but doesn’t seem to be too angry about it. Norman’s here for a good time and without really trying it seems to happen to him. He can even make someone forget they are supposed to be angry with him without really trying.
Reg is just strange. He’s a gamer before the digital age, and he’ll spend time thinking up new board games to play, which might make perfect sense on a computer, but in real life we’re all a little like Tom just trying to keep up with the rules.
Except for Tom and Annie, they are all self-centered, so this is the perfect mix for a playwright to have some fun with. It’s like reading a Leacock story, people do and think weird things and you chuckle, groan, or occasionally laugh out loud. The trick is in your own imagination of what the motivations are and what the consequence will be for the words and actions. Sometimes you’ll see it coming, sometimes Ayckborun throws a curve. Don’t expect there to be a conflict that sets the story in motion toward achieving a goal. There isn’t one. We’re just viewers, looking in on a slice of life. We all know people like the characters, hopefully not all at once within our own circles though. It’s nice to laugh at someone else’s strangeness in a setting where it’s socially acceptable and then go home feeling good about it.
Sunday matinees are sold out but there are still a few tickets left for other performances.
(Photos Supplied – Michael Beresford) Vanessa Leslie, Ian Munday, and Paul Barrie in Living Together
