Generation Vexed, Why, Tagged
Raksha M.
Bedroom Philosopher fans would love this hour-long tidbit of a double bill. Aptly staged in painfully hip Fitzroy at Vibe on Smith, I Hung Out With Gen Y...and all I got was this lousy Facebook account showcased the combined writing talents of Eloise Maree and Lucie McIntosh.
The action dives right into an absurd fight between A and B, two opposing characters separated on stage by a fence of cubes. Neurotic A is obsessed with maintaining the order of life, the universe and everything, whilst revolutionary B blithely revels in chaos. The two thrash out their issues with the implied 'they' who make the social rules and must not be angered, almost like a bizarre Tweedledum and Tweedledee on xanax who come to the conclusion that perhaps they aren't really sure what they are fighting for or against. Actresses Lucie McIntosh and Sophia Robinson make an admirable effort at stylized movement, complete with costumes wonderfully apt for the absurdist skit on cult hipster discourse between the independent rebel and the unthinking prude that reveals both are just pretentious as.
Perhaps the transition between pieces could have been smoother, where tinny gameboy music fades into the deeply emotional Breathe by Cinematic Orchestra (a cult cry-along fave!) and a spotlight of Maree aka Molly hanging from the ceiling. Perhaps the props shouldn't have collapsed on the actresses while they changed. But the romp and pomp of Mad as Molly was hilarious because it was true, and you could see it in the rueful grins of recognition in the audience. It was an uncanny mimicry of the quintessential vapid and insecure Gen Y princess, Ke$ha-like and complete with overusing her 'like totes brill' vocabulary, facebook addiction and binge-drinking. Eloise's well-rehearsed caricature effortlessly pulled the audience through most of the show with her hungover musings and recollections after a wild birthday party. The first bit was a riotous combination of slapstick interpretive dance (to a nostalgic Bardot's Poison) and a broadway-style song and dance number from the inside of a giant strawberry soda pop bottle (personally, my favourite bit), after which she ironically bubbles up to the top and finds her way as a thirty-something assistant salesgirl. Believable and poignant at parts, Molly faces the reality of growing up too late (Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, anyone?) in a sharp but still loving mockery of apathetic Gen Y slut ho's and their many accessories. Oi, is there a Like button on this thing?
Images by Laura McGuire
I hung out with Gen Y and all I got was this lousy facebook account.
Justina Lui
Fringe Festival shows tend to have a reputation for quirkiness and an inability to be classified into traditional categories. This show did not set out to break any boundaries; instead it was here to parody them. The title that takes a swipe at at least 3 different pop culture references promised a hilarious insight into the minds of Gen Y instead all I got was a totally unsatisfying experience.
The room upstairs at the Vibe café was transformed into a cosy lounge room theatre, allowing the audience to get quite close and personal with the performers. The show consisted of two short plays, the first featuring Lucie McIntosh and Sophia Robinson which consisted of a clichéd rant grappling with topics which included identity, politics and modern theatre. Their existentialist angst was often interrupted by party poppers, passion pop and some interesting lighting choice. I found such cheap attention grabbing tactics (noise and light) to be too distracting and felt the same emphasis could have been made by making better use of the staging and perhaps a different set design. A great example of this was when one of the performers took a seat amongst the audience and continued the dialogue from there, moments after uttering the lines “They [the audience] are the people who decide everything”. So who are they? Merely a collective term for you.
Most of the time I felt the movements on stage did not have any relevance to the conversation Player A was having with Player B. Perhaps there was more than a hint of irony in the lines “bored, bored as fuck” and “theatre is so passé”. Ultimately I felt it failed to reach its potential as there were some clever observations such as “David Williamson only writes plays for people in beige” and following a moment of silence “For Kevin” “Who’s Kevin?” “Exactly”.
The second piece I head described by a fellow audience member as “a year 12 drama monologue”. I felt the director, Jessica Brajoux should have clarified from the onset that there would be two pieces presented; nothing in the publicity formally announced this. Instead the audience were left wondering if the first pair would come out again and continue their original tirade. It was a questionable artistic decision to present two such self contained plays which did not compliment each other at all.
However, there were moments that were just ‘bril’ – a convincing pink teenage girl’s bedroom was created in less than 30 seconds and a very literal interpretive dance will ensure you never listen to Bardot in the same way again (not that you ever listened to Bardot in the first place, right?)
I was unsure if Molly was a parody of Gen Y along the lines of Ja’ime King or trying to be a realistic portrayal as it fell a little short of both. Some of the references to facebook and the accent felt contrived and in need of more workshopping. However the topics canvassed were quite relevant, dealing with the obsession with celebrity culture and those who believe they have a right to their 15 minutes of fame. A beautiful image of a twirling marionette in a single down light and a surreal moment featuring an all singing and all dancing giant bottle of passion pop easily satisfied the ‘quirky’ factor.
Altogether the desire to push contemporary theatre in a direction more accessible and responsive to Gen Y is a commendable one however this offering failed to live up to its potential.
