Mary Rachel Brown’s latest play Permission To Spin deals with the machinations within the children’s music industry at a high profile agency headed by Martin (Yure Covich) and his quite literal sidekick Jim (Arky Michael). The conflict in the play is immediately established as these two go for it hammer and tongs disputing the new direction their top selling artist wishes to go. For Cristobel (Anna Houston) is now 32 and wishes to divorce herself from her 14 year stint as Miss Polkadot. The scene is a battle ground fuelled by whisky and cocaine. Accusations and vitriol are freely aired, coupled with no holds barred verbal and physical torment. Who will be the victor: alpha male producer Martin, high octane manager Jim or elusive singer Cristobel?
Set in a very familiar corporate office of functional greys and shiny black finishings, a central table is festooned with a decanter and glasses and the ubiquitous lines of coke one assumes to be de rigueur in this world. A sofa stage right (proving to be somewhat of a break out area later in the play) and an oversized full length framed mirror leans ominously against a wall on the opposite side. The down lighting seals the design as a “business boxing ring”. Kudos to Cris Baldwin (Set) and Veronique Benett (lighting).
It seems though that Crisobel has both Martin and Jim over barrels when it is revealed that she has certain evidence that her music has been used as a form of torture to prisoners in Afghanistan. She wants no part of it anymore and shares her loathing of her cutesy good girl image as a kid’s entertainer. The stakes could not be any higher as Miss Polkadot has won Children’s Album of the Year and mega bucks are in the balance. Jim is the meat in the sandwich throughout their negotiations and is constantly chewed and spat out when not delivering what Martin wants. It is this setup that is the most interesting element in this production. It is not under discussion that such violence would be tolerated in any place of work these days and the treatment of Cristobel flies in the face of what has been exposed and learnt recently within the entertainment industry. This dates the play as indeed Ms Brown first penned it some 10 years ago. I assume that presenting the play in this form now highlights the fact that nothing has changed.
The performances are frenetic from the get go with little let up for this viewer to revel in the great dialogue. Granted, everyone is high on coke and liquor however some respite was needed. The play has been directed by the producer (Dino Dimitriadis) and the playwright, though the actors seem to have been given free rein to cavort. The performance style is very large and could have been brought down at times several notches. This would have imbued the narrative with more suspense and allowed the violence to be merited in places. Nevertheless, the performers’ skills are brilliantly focused on telling the story.
Brown has written a female role that once finally on stage remains fairly quiet and controlled, observing the antics of the men, refusing the drink and drugs. She then rolls up her sleeves and enters the fray and gives as good as she gets. However I quibble with Brown’s arc for this character as Cristobel never escapes the manipulation. Theatre is art reflecting life but it also has the chance to take us to extraordinary places. I only wish this play showed us what it could be, not just how it is.
Mark G Nagle – Theatre Now
Photography credit: Robert Catto.
Permission To Spin
Written by Mary Rachel Brown
27 Jun – 28 Jul 2018
Tue – Sat: 8:00 PM
Sun: 5:00 PM
Matinees: Sat 21 & 28 July, 2:00 PM
Venue: Old Fitz Theatre
Theatre Company: Apocalypse Theatre Company in association with Red Line Productions
Duration: N/A
Meet Carl; a failed rock star turned children’s entertainer. Carl can write a kid’s song on the back of a beer coaster in two minutes. This talent has made him one of the richest and most unhappy men in Australia. Things take a turn for the worst when Carl decides to reinvent himself as a moral crusader. The problem is Carl underestimated the leap from children’s music to truly standing up for your beliefs, and he comes out
looking like a poor man’s Bono.
Permission to Spin is a funny till it’s not cage fight between art and ethics; a Trump-esque allegory about men that carry their school-yard bully techniques all the way to adulthood. This play is for everyone that thinks children’s music is torture.
Warning: contains swearing, drug use, sexual references and actors in animal costumes (but no nudity).
“A CROSS BETWEEN ‘DEATH AND THE MAIDEN’ AND ‘SPINAL TAP’” – CATHERINE CORAY, DIRECTOR OF HOTINK PLAY FESTIVAL, NEW YORK
CREATIVE TEAM:
Written by: Mary Rachel Brown
Produced by: Apocalypse Theatre Company in association with Red Line Productions
Ticket Prices
TICKETS: $38.00 – $45.00
