Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin
When We Were Us is a new musical from Playwright and Composer Catherine Zulver, directed by Helen Mackenzie Hughes and produced under Red Scare Theatre Company by the company's very own Cassandra Tse. I have high expectations going into the show as I’m aware of the many talents onboard. As I enter BATS Theatre’s Dome stage I take in the pre-show state: Kevin Orlando’s Dylan resting under a blanket centre-stage and Julia McDonald's Claire to the right, looking out and up. She seems hopeful, and so am I.
From the blurb you will know that these two, Claire and Dylan, used to be together and when we meet them for this story it is eight years since they broke up. Dylan has recently had a seizure that has either left him unable to walk, or is a consequence of something else that is also taking away the use of his legs. McDonald and Orlando are worth watching every opportunity you can get of them singing, and musically compliment each other in a way that is fitting of the show's intention: to show you how compatible these two are (or used to be). Phoebe Caldeiro is the show’s musical director, working with Zulvers composition. The accompanying live guitarist Tom Whaley, brings a responsiveness from a musical side of things to the powerful lyrical duo already on stage.
Maxim’s set includes a large, cloth-covered rectangle hanging above the stage. This has lights rigged into it, causing it to glow during the show (Riley Gibson is the lighting designer, Sophie Badrick is the operator). Below the looming rectangle, the floor has square and rectangular sections jutting upwards out of it. They’re tall enough that characters can sit, perch, or lean on them, and robust enough to be walked on. The set on the ground has been covered in a pattern that is reminiscent of hospital floors. It is difficult to interpret what the hanging rectangle means, or how it fits into the themes of the piece, the jutting floor pieces were a satisfying and simple metaphor for Dylan's dysphoric experience. Losing his ‘solid ground’ as it were.
For parts of my critique I hasten to stipulate that I am not a composer, nor am I a musical theatre nerd, or a musical theatre performer. I did find every song to be very similar: acoustic guitar with saddened, sometimes imploring vocals. I definitely felt a sense of loss, and yearning for times gone by that can’t be gotten back from both the characters, which I do understand is the main theme of the piece. However it did make the shows musicality quite monotonous and, considering some of the songs are almost flashbacks, vivid recollections of exciting days they used to share, there was definitely an opportunity to differentiate their styles. Use that musicality to drive home again just how great, energising and fun those good old days were and how dreary these ones are now.
I’m recycling that same point but this time about the movement of the characters. We’re frequently told that Dylan loves to travel and is excited by a world where he doesn’t have to settle down, or have any responsibilities. This guy sounds like he should be spry with a twinkle in his eye. Yet every time he embodies his ‘old self’ during songs, Orlando moves around the stage with a steady, swaggering amble. Giving Dylan more energy during the recollections when he is mobile would do more to give gravity to his immobility now. It would help us empathise with Dylan more because it would make clearer just how much he has lost.
My final piece of critique is about the romance between these two characters as a whole. Dylan constantly pesters Claire, often guilting her into staying or doing stuff because she’s “the only one he can call” ...never mind how much he mentions his family and how his mother is also coming to help him. His personality seems to be rooted in avoiding difficult conversations, including asking any of the hospital staff to wash him which he makes Claire do, or contact anybody else to help him because he’s “too proud” as if that’s something people should accept anymore. Claire’s character is this angel who does not act on or embody a motive outside of being in love with Dylan even when it’s obvious he uses her and doesn’t give any of the answers she literally asks for. The characters lack depth and from early on I am rooting for them to leave each other alone. A relationship that was meant to come across as lovely and endearing, comes across more as a manipulative man-child and a naive, strung-along woman who slowly grows to know better.
There are moments that shine through, McDonald brings a deft and hilarious comedic timing in her music and her acting, and Orlando embodies his character with the yearning of someone who wants to do right but doesn’t want to fight. I was hopeful, but a little disappointed by a lack of dynamism and a relationship I struggled to ever get on board with.
When We Were Us is on at BATS until the 27th of July, more info here.
Maxim’s set includes a large, cloth-covered rectangle hanging above the stage. This has lights rigged into it, causing it to glow during the show (Riley Gibson is the lighting designer, Sophie Badrick is the operator). Below the looming rectangle, the floor has square and rectangular sections jutting upwards out of it. They’re tall enough that characters can sit, perch, or lean on them, and robust enough to be walked on. The set on the ground has been covered in a pattern that is reminiscent of hospital floors. It is difficult to interpret what the hanging rectangle means, or how it fits into the themes of the piece, the jutting floor pieces were a satisfying and simple metaphor for Dylan's dysphoric experience. Losing his ‘solid ground’ as it were.
For parts of my critique I hasten to stipulate that I am not a composer, nor am I a musical theatre nerd, or a musical theatre performer. I did find every song to be very similar: acoustic guitar with saddened, sometimes imploring vocals. I definitely felt a sense of loss, and yearning for times gone by that can’t be gotten back from both the characters, which I do understand is the main theme of the piece. However it did make the shows musicality quite monotonous and, considering some of the songs are almost flashbacks, vivid recollections of exciting days they used to share, there was definitely an opportunity to differentiate their styles. Use that musicality to drive home again just how great, energising and fun those good old days were and how dreary these ones are now.
I’m recycling that same point but this time about the movement of the characters. We’re frequently told that Dylan loves to travel and is excited by a world where he doesn’t have to settle down, or have any responsibilities. This guy sounds like he should be spry with a twinkle in his eye. Yet every time he embodies his ‘old self’ during songs, Orlando moves around the stage with a steady, swaggering amble. Giving Dylan more energy during the recollections when he is mobile would do more to give gravity to his immobility now. It would help us empathise with Dylan more because it would make clearer just how much he has lost.
My final piece of critique is about the romance between these two characters as a whole. Dylan constantly pesters Claire, often guilting her into staying or doing stuff because she’s “the only one he can call” ...never mind how much he mentions his family and how his mother is also coming to help him. His personality seems to be rooted in avoiding difficult conversations, including asking any of the hospital staff to wash him which he makes Claire do, or contact anybody else to help him because he’s “too proud” as if that’s something people should accept anymore. Claire’s character is this angel who does not act on or embody a motive outside of being in love with Dylan even when it’s obvious he uses her and doesn’t give any of the answers she literally asks for. The characters lack depth and from early on I am rooting for them to leave each other alone. A relationship that was meant to come across as lovely and endearing, comes across more as a manipulative man-child and a naive, strung-along woman who slowly grows to know better.
There are moments that shine through, McDonald brings a deft and hilarious comedic timing in her music and her acting, and Orlando embodies his character with the yearning of someone who wants to do right but doesn’t want to fight. I was hopeful, but a little disappointed by a lack of dynamism and a relationship I struggled to ever get on board with.
When We Were Us is on at BATS until the 27th of July, more info here.