ENTERTAINMENT

Playwright’s searing wit still on the ball

Ball Game review by Lauren Farrow
When I heard Ball Game described
as a play about the corruption of the
American dream and the perils of
capitalism, I was sceptical.
I had no desire to sit through an-
other theatre production with a pre-
dictable plot line and tirades on the
evils of consumer culture.
But when I discovered that the
Darlinghurst Theatre production
was written by American playwright
Alan Ball, my apathy turned to en-
thusiasm.
Ball Game comprises four, one-act
plays and was written before Ball hit
Oscar gold with American Beauty.
The play treads similar ground
to this film, with storylines centred
on dysfunctional relationships and
comments on the superficiality bred
by consumerism.
And like American Beauty, Ball
Game gives those often tired themes
new life with a script that is packed
“Ball’s colourful characters
are extreme representations of
what capitalism can do to all of
us, with an androgynous waiter/
waitress swapping sexes in the
flick of a finger and a homicidal
mental breakdown occurring
over the size of a deodorant
stick.”
with dry wit, strong characters and
a sense of uneasiness.
The two strongest plays in
Ball Game are The m word and
Powerlunch, which see characters
struggle with society’s expectations
and with each other.
In The m word, a marriage pro-
posal is negotiated like a business
merger. A man and a woman discuss
different ‘outcomes’ they would like
to ‘achieve’ within a ‘specified time-
frame’. The ‘merger’, which comes
complete with a scheduled midlife
crisis, is a hilarious example of mar-
ital expectations gone awry.
Actors Lisa Griffiths and
Matthew Holmes give convincing,
tight-lipped performances as the
corporate couple out of touch with
their emotions.
In the final play, Powerlunch, two
strangers who are simultaneously
repulsed and attracted to each other
hurl verbal abuse between dance se-
quences and getting it on.
Ball’s colourful characters are ex-
treme representations of what capi- Alicia Jeffery, who stars
talism can do to all of us, with an in the Darlinghurst
androgynous waiter/waitress swap- Theatre’s current
ping sexes in the flick of a finger and production ‘Ball Game’.
a homicidal mental breakdown oc- Photo Luke Stambouliah.
curring over the size of a deodorant
stick. Ball Game plays at the Darlinghurst
But despite this fantastical ele- Theatre Company until July 19 at
ment, the smart script and solid per- 19 Greenknowe Ave, Potts Point.
formances made a believer out of Phone 8356 9987.
me.

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