“… a journey which you must take””
Max Frombeau
4.5 Stars
Venue: Old Fitz
(Woolloomooloo) Sydney
Dates: May 23rd – June 14th 2025
In fifty years of theatre-going I find I can count on both hands the times a play has so impressed with its originality in writing and excellence in performance. Amy Herzog’s semi-autobiographical tale is one such play to join the ranks.
A brief synopsis of the play may sound overwhelming at first read: Mary Jane, a single mum, faces daily challenges through her son Alex’s various complex medical conditions. However the warmth, humour and matter of fact nature in the characters and of the
writing reveals this and much more to us while with these people and long after.
Rachel Chant directs her company of players with great subtlety and delicacy. Eloise Snape (Mary Jane) as a performer intrigues from the get-go. Tuned into the world of others, her Mary Jane is an active listener; perky and genuine – all the while totally alert to what may present itself at any moment from her son’s room (off stage) – never seen, but heard, AND ever present. She perches, never quite sitting in her spartan New York flat. She equally engages in social niceties though never baulking to take on life’s big questions and conundrums.
Chant lets in occasional “real time” moments to pass without dialogue. A strong offer, for this can throw an audience. However, this never adversely affects the mood or pace indeed it gives us time to tune in, to observe, take stock, as well as a space to breathe, for we too are perched on the edge wondering : who is this Mary Jane? …. an everyday battler, a saint, superwoman, one of life’s casualties…..? Something altogether other I conclude. Her quest to provide joy and hope for Alex while finding meaning and purpose for herself brings her into sharp focus by the play’s end.
Mary Jane is not alone as her life is, of course, populated with others. Apart from the briefest of moments, little conflict is generated in her interactions. It essentially exists in understanding her lot in life. There is no victimhood, wailing or rage. However to great relief (for me) a bureaucratic error bursts her bubble at one point. This is Herzog’s writing at its best, creating a singular explosion in the narrative for Mary Jane to demand one simple act of fairness for Alex, and a longed for momentary release from her yoke.
The exceptional support players double in their roles. All have their moment in the sun. They are : Di Adams, Sophie Bloom, Isabel Burton and Janine Watson. I elect to not name the characters they play as to do so may spoil a journey which you MUST take.
Without hesitation this is a highly recommended piece of revelatory theatre.
photo by Phil Erbacher
4.5 Soothing Stars
Max Frombeau, Theatre Now
