For the pre-show chats and dribbles at 'Dry Land' by Outhouse Theatre Co and Mad March Hare, we are surrounded by a photo exhibit and LED lights above as we pour into a gorgeous little traverse theatre (Kings Cross Theatre). We face inwards. It heightens the audience's role having us look at the material and each other.
The stage is set with a tiled floor and wall, eight florescent lights, two timber benches in a row. The sound design immerses us in the swimming pool change room.
As the action begins, Sarah Rae Anne Meacham playing Ester and Patricia Pemberton playing Amy enter on high energy. They both give superb performances, placing us in the this confused teenage setting, the tempo of the dense dialogue maintaining throughout and with Florida accents Alabama Worley would approve of. Moreover, the initial apparent cat (Amy) and mouse (Ester) game is presented, the leader and follower.
The opening scene where Amy insists of Ester to "punch me again" could have had more mileage if we didn't know the dark reasons behind it. It could have just been a bit of odd horseplay between two bored anywhere USA kids.
Before long, the desperate nature of the problem comes into focus. Amy is pregnant and without access to accurate information or support she is trying any and all methods to get rid of "it". No access to a credit card to buy the medications needed, "punch me in the stomach", even swallowing shampoo; all desperate measures being considered.
Enter a third character. Swimming friend Reba played by Michelle Ny. An interesting dynamic forms. She is more clueless than the two protagonists. But as Amy taunts Ester of being in love with her, Reba plays along. In these exchanges we see Ester defend herself and her character is not as innocent as she once appeared. We learn she has had her own trials in life and has earned the backbone to go with it. She is ultimately a good person who is compelled to help her friend, and adult enough to stick to this even as Amy bullies her and pushes her away. Also hinted is that perhaps the converse is true, does Amy having feelings for Ester?
It's a 90 minute piece with no interval. The story portrays teenage girl locker room talk. There's a later scene where Amy's sexual claims are debunked, giving the audience clues. Amy's story is complicated. There is denial and delusion going on. The dream is gone but the baby is real. And Amy is not ready for this.
I feel with good plays no lines are out of place. Each is part of the duel between characters. Sometimes American theatre can get carried away with itself, as perhaps the reviews for this play have done. While the wandering dialogue does immerse us in the teenage world, ultimately it felt overdone, cluttered.
But it does break new ground in the climax scene. The two friends are thrust into an emergency situation, and where before there was dense dialogue, suddenly a vacuum. It's almost unbearable to watch.
There is a return to normality of sorts at the end of the play. Reba continues on cluelessly oblivious but the dynamic has changed, and the audience is in on this. And Amy and Ester have a secret look in their eyes, the battle they've been through together. Ester gets picked for the swimming team and the friends will go their separate ways. The last scene is with Amy alone, older and wiser, watching footage of Ester swimming and moving onto brighter things. Amy breaks down in tears. Tears of exhaustion or a broken heart? Or anguish at what she has been through and the true friend that was there for her. It's up for debate. A debate many shy away from.
Certainly a moving piece. It took me a week to write this review. Hard to articulate it all. Nothing but acclaim is due to the superb direction and fearless performances delivered, tackling this difficult topic.
