By Ash Cottrell
In my humble opinion, fortyfivedownstairs is one of the most exciting places to see theatre in Melbourne. Conveniently located at the Paris end of Flinders Lane, the theatre is flanked by prominent bars and restaurants to value-add to an evening out.
Tuesday night just gone, I was lucky enough to see the opening night of, Smokescreen, a play that was impeccably presented by, Bare Witness Theatre Company. As I descended the steep stairs that lead into the lair that is fortyfivedownstairs I wondered what set was going to reveal itself to me. I reminisced about the theatre (mostly excellent) that I had been privileged enough to see at the venue over the past fifteen-odd years. I marveled at just how dynamic and transformative the space can be.
On this particular night, I was met with a simple but effective set design – one long table, a small bar and chairs. As the audience took their seats, we were greeted by our soon-to-be protagonist, Glenn, played by Christopher Samuel Carroll seated at one end of the table, chain smoking cigarettes. My personal takeout from this brilliant play was that cigarettes are a strong metaphor for pollution and our bodies, a metaphor for the earth.
Narratively speaking, the plot revolved around two dynamic, self-assured Americans who meet to discuss a problem that Glenn has. It is later revealed that his problem is in fact, how his company should tackle the knowledge of climate change. Glenn is a man from the South, an oil man, committed to Uncle Sam’s America. He meets in secret with Bud (Damon Baudin), a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ talent escalation from the tobacco industry. They go head-to-head for an hour and a half of incredibly well written and entertaining dialogue that is absorbed a bit like a tennis match, these two never missing a beat. The rallies getting more and more intense as the third act approaches and a victor declared.
The prolific use of herbal cigarettes in theatre has never bothered me but I was unsurprised to see a number of face masks dotting the audience. At first, this seemed to be a play about the corporate marketing machine behind the success of the tobacco industry. In saying that, it was quite the dramatic reveal to learn that what was actually bubbling under the surface was the catastrophic damage done to the environment and how people choose to ignore it. In many instances, it was an uncomfortable message to digest but nonetheless, an insightful mirror held to human behaviour.
I was for a while, a little unsure what era we were in and for me, capturing the precise tone of the late seventies was the only thing that slightly missed the mark. In saying that, this play was excellent. The writing was extraordinary and the tension and sizing up between these two characters, thrilling. The performances were superb, and the retention of an hour and a half of snappy, layered and nuanced dialogue was nothing short of impressive.
The next day at work, I strongly recommended to my colleagues to see this play and it has reverberated in my mind ever since. While it was an uncomfortable reminder of how human beings make excuses in their own lives and how we all are complicit on some level in ignoring the damage we do, I’m so glad I saw it and I can’t wait to see what these creatives do next.
Image: Nicholas Robertson
