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Private Lives
Stone/Castro Productions
Director: Jo Stone
The City of Adelaide
Mon 17 Nov
Until Wed 26 Nov
90 people only have experienced the revolutionary, psychologically challenging, daring, dangerous and richly rewarding experience that is Castro/Stone Production's 'Private Lives'. Not Noel Coward's play - oh no it's something more tantalising.
The audience is one person only. There are six characters, all of them alluring, disturbing, left or right of centre. The set is a series of Adelaide venues indoors and out. You wear a tag to identify you so you won't get lost as you journey from Higher Ground off Hindley Street, to North Adelaide and back to Hindley Street - always hoping you will be safe, and that something won't break the magic - or you.
More importantly, in a production that throws out all the rules of formal, traditional theatre, including the actor audience relationship and the safety barrier of the fourth wall - how will you deal one on one with a character that doesn't ask for a response but literally demands one from you - one at times you feel you can't trust yourself to give voice, but do anyway?
I have dreamed of theatre like this. Living the dream proved a daunting series of intellectual and emotional shockwaves that made the 90 minutes that passed seem as if a mere moment. I would do it again.
'Private Lives' might seemingly be about meeting and experiencing the lives of six oddballs but it's more about how six characters can play the audience - me. The agency girl (Tahlia Harman) whose car picks me up at the start wants to see if I will be her lover, up until the moment I'm dumped at the University of Adelaide Footbridge. Dr George Duncan (Nick Pelomis) draws me into his reminisce of the desire and suffering of his last hours by the spot he died. I feel proudly compelled to be his witness.
Whisked away to the Edinburgh Castle, a female traveller back from the UK (Lori Bell) bemoans the Ed as being less than proper gay and seeks my company and advice over an ex lover - so I offer advice. Offered a room I find myself sharing a pervert's (Nick Bennet) videos of people's private moments and manage nonetheless to be rather soliticious.
Getting involved with a woman (Anna Kingston) who implies we've an online relationship that's going somewhere professional proved alienating while the sad confessions in the bowels of Supermild of a straight guy (Chris Scherer) with a boyfriend attempting a comedy career in drag prompted great sympathy. How and why did I do this?
Director Jo Stone displays an understanding of human psychology at the core of the drama of human interaction only matched by masters of the art such as the renowned Safe Chamber featuring Jason Sweeny and Fiona Sprott.
The actual management of the work and transportation of myself was smooth and snappy, providing room to absorb each experience and ready myself for the next. The work is scripted with such intelligence each character has plenty of room to deal with their solo audience member's responses. The actors collectively and singularly present themselves as the most truly confronting, authentic denizens of the Adelaide's streets with dreams and desires they themselves clearly hold close within but for the moments we 'share'.
The most quixotic thing about 'Private Lives' is that while it provides theatre with a badly needed shot in the arm; most especially the notion of theatre as a genuinely totally engaging experience, it is a solo one - no one has experienced it the way I have. Should I worry about that? Who wants to share?
David O'Brien
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