“… clever and witty … unfailingly excellent”
Alethea Mouhtouris
4.5 Stars
Venue : Popsy Theatre
Dawes Point Sydney
Clever. Witty. Biting. Hilarious. Lachlan Parry’s Straight Panic is a unique and wildly entertaining satire full of laugh-out-loud moments while causing a little discomfort and societal self-reflection.
Set in Sydney, the 80-minute production is a triptych of distinct satires, each delivering in spades. The five actors – Esha Jessy, Andrew Fraser, Emma Kew, Evelina Singh, and Pierse Cant – seamlessly move between different characters throughout the play.
The uniting element is society’s historically ugly attitude towards the gay community. Billed as ‘A very gay comedy about very straight people in the strange far-off land of early 2000s Sydney’, Parry’s work perfectly captures the fear of being labelled ‘gay’ by family and friends in times gone by, and the ridiculous measures to try and fit in to avoid the stigma.
The first is a glimpse into corporate ridiculousness – Jen, the floor manager at Myer’s George St store, is apoplectic about gay men hooking up in the toilets near menswear. Officious and demanding, Jen (Kew) accurately caricatures overly officious corporate managers. She instructs her team – downtrodden team leader Cheynne (Jessy), sparkling Fran (Fraser), security guard Stan (Cant), and cleaner Luann (Singh) – to follow the three Ds: disrupt, deter, and divert. Anyone who has worked in a corporate environment recognises this manager playbook; divide and conquer. She succeeds in creating a common enemy – us against the gays.
Each performer shines but Kew brings her role to life so realistically, it is almost scary. And Fraser is that flamboyant guy so firmly wedged in the closet, he believes in his straightness himself.
The second play is The McLaren Family Olympics, featuring three siblings, a chaotic mother, and an absent father. The siblings have been raised to compete with each other, with outsize consequences. Wild child Taryn (Jessy) has brought her exotic “life partner” Sebastian (Cant) home for Christmas Day, uni drop-out Aaaron (Fraser) is the proverbial favoured child who never amounts to anything other than watching movies “that mean something”, and uptight Sharon (Singh) is trying to bait her sister and brother into one last family Olympics while internally collapsing from holding a devastating secret – someone is gay.
Kew plays their mother Karen who is spaced out on diazepam while her family collapses around her, only to rouse with a horrifyingly bloody reveal.
Jessy plays world traveller Taryn perfectly –tense, angry and aggressive while pretending otherwise to her boyfriend, Seb. To offset this, Cant plays Seb as a fake hippie, using a combo of European accents.
Many of us recognise Christmas is a testing time as we are forced into close proximity with family. So while the specifics of this play are unique, the chaos it generates is very familiar. There is a clever use of Bob Katter audio which adds to the humour and place-setting as “conservatives”.
And finally, Cronulla Beach, where two year 10 mates – “’nulla boys forever” – have just emerged from a swim and are watching the waves, contemplating the end of school as they prepare for an apprenticeship. Phil (Cant) and Bill (Fraser) are considering attending a rally (which we know turns into the Cronulla riots) until Jill (Singh) turns up and goads them into a “let’s prove you’re not gay” series of activities. Singh completely owns this role – she plays Jill as a sweet vivacious beach teen while maliciousness and spite lurk beneath. It’s a recognisable character executed to perfection.
Director Lily Hayman has done a terrific job with this production. The pacing is perfect: it’s consistently organised chaos. Crossovers between each play can be considered as separate snippets of entertainment with outbreaks of song and dance. These performers are truly talented.
Staging is clever with each play featuring minimal but meaningful set features – a chaise lounge on which the drugged out McLaren matriarch lies. Sand to reflect a beach. A Myer banner and branded name tags and lanyards. Well done to set designer Soham Apte.
Aside from clever and witty writing, Parry’s work is a clarion call. In just over 20 years, Australia has progressed as a society where gay culture is recognised, accepted, and lauded – rather than being a secret.
We’ve done incredibly well to have overcome this stage – largely, if not completely due to the work and fierce commitment of our gay elders. Without becoming overly political, it’s worth considering the current political threats which may well push us back into those dreadful times.
AYTP productions are unfailingly excellent. Keep a look out for the next one.
photos by Phil Erbacher
Alethea Mouhtouris, Theatre Now
