Image credit: Xahlia Jeffcote & Desmond Tan
Neil facilitates the Wednesday Men’s Group at the hospital. Faced with pressure from new management, he organises a weekend away, hoping to achieve some impressive results. The scout camp hall is difficult to find, with each delayed arrival commenting on the remote isolation and lack of phone signal and caffeine.
Mawkie comes without his housemate, Tanner, with news that their friend has committed suicide by overdose. His grief and rage turn on Neil, dispelling illusions that more group members may turn up and raising questions about each member’s real motivations for attending the weekly sessions. New attendee Quentin tries to get the measure of the group, using his experiences from the SAS, with varying degrees of success. Washed-up rock star Robbie confronts Mawkie’s personal antipathy towards him to discover overlapped personal history that has defined Mawkie’s development. Pinned down in the darkened hall by some drunken spotlighting roo shooters, enforced proximity leads to brutal honesty, sharing and self-discovery in a way that has been impossible for each of them previously.
With a limited cast and a short span of real time in which to explore individual characters and group dynamics, the characters presented seem to be a sample of the most extreme examples of men’s group members. While the actors make the best of the roles through pathos, humour and anger, they are not given much dramatic room to move.
Joel Sammels plays Quentin, the unknown newcomer, with perfect comedic timing. His lines are disruptive in the best possible ways, cleverly written and perfectly performed. The sense of unease conjured by his dreamy smiles is carefully calibrated, and lifts the performance out of confrontations that have reached stalemate.
Ben Weirheim inhabits all the contradictions of Robbie, all rampant ego and sexual braggadocio, desperate fight against alcoholism, forlorn loss of fatherhood and an intrinsic musical talent. Preferring to make enemies than confront the empty truths of his life, his presence serves as an enigma and as a catalyst for others in the group.
Danen Engelenberg leaves his good looks off stage, bringing a brutish force of resentment, rage, and hidden fears in drug dealing drop-out, Mawkie. His insistence to cut through the bullshit of the usual group meetings, as well as the values of mainstream society, lead to stand offs, fisticuffs and revelations between all characters.
While Matthew Kiely’s Neil seems quite dull and insipid initially, under pressure from the group members and his despair at hospital politics he allows himself freedom to express his own feelings, assisting himself and the others to acknowledge and accept painful life truths.
Sally Phipps’ set design is amazing. She transforms the basic black box theatre into the distinct world of the scout hall by accurately nailing each timeless detail of brightly painted doors and furniture, that particular portrait of the Queen and displays of flags, scarves and knot tying guides, right down to creating a classic roofline. Chris Donnelly and William Langdale keep things subtle with lighting and sound, but step up with required drama when the roo shooters target the group. While there is no credit given for fight choreography, tension builds through natural grappling in response to provocation.
A highly watchable play, entertaining but with plenty of substance for later reflection, Tom Jeffcote reveals the hidden truths under the everyday armour worn by men in modern society.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Armour
Presented by The Blue Room Theatre and 610 Productions
Writer, Director and Co-Producer: Tom Jeffcote
Co-Producer: Electra Reissi
Set Design: Sally Phipps
Lighting Design: Chris Donnelly
Sound Design: William Langdale
Stage Manager: Emily Stokoe
Performed by Danen Engelenberg, Matthew Kiely, Joel Sammels and Ben Weirheim
The Blue Room Theatre, Perth Cultural Centre
21 April – 9 May 2015
