 Photo - Jon Green
Tom
Stoppard once said; “I think theatre ought to be theatrical... [so] there's
always some kind of ambush involved in the experience.” Baby Boomer Blues has
its own ambush – it’s called boredom.
The play is “back by popular demand” after a season late last
year. Who demanded it? I demand to know. Opening night was not a sell out and, judging
by the lacklustre applause at the finish, there seemed to be a distinct lack of
demand. The surprising thing is that Baby Boomer Blues is written and directed
by one of Perth’s
best known and most prolific theatre writer/directors, Alan Becher. He’s had
some big hits over the years. This, I’m afraid, for me, is not one of them.
Baby Boomer Blues is about the baby boomer generation and
the two actors in it are baby boomers. Actually, that’s not quite right; one of
them is a boomer, the other one is married to a boomer. Keep up please people.
So, we have married boomer couple, Bob (Ian Toyne) and Carol
(Michelle Fornaiser). Said married couple can’t stand each other anymore. Said
couple fight all the time. On stage. For two hours. As entertainment. Now, I am
boomer spawn. No. My parents were not kangaroos. Please people, keep up. And my
friend for the evening is a boomer. We’ll call her B. For Boomer. Get it? I
know.
So you’d think that between us we’d get some enjoyment from this
boomer fest. But you see, I spent my childhood listening to boomers fighting
and B needed a stiff drink by the end of it because it brought back horrible
memories. And all this from “an hilarious comedy”. You’re beginning to see my
point. I knew you would. This “entertaining portrayal of married life” is a
tense experience for anyone who’s ever been in, or had to listen to, a couple
who can no longer bare the sight of each other. And I’d say that’s – oh – about
all of us.
The play takes an awfully long time to come to the point.
Baby-boomer Bob (Toyne) has quit his job in search of something more
fulfilling, so his third wife, Carol (Fornaiser) has become the
breadwinner. Carol is desperate for a getaway to reinvigorate their marriage (give up! I wanted to cry, but held back
for decorum’s sake) and so the couple embark on a journey to Thailand. There
are a few moments in the second act where you begin to realise what the play is
really about and find some empathy and interest and then, suddenly, it’s over.
There are several long sequences that provide nothing in terms of the plot and
could be cut from the script, which I think would benefit it greatly in terms
of pace and sense.
The performance from Ian Toyne is a good one. He injects a
natural warmth into a character that we’re all familiar with – the grumpy old
man. B said that character was spot-on and could well have been her ex-husband,
Mr. B, so clearly Becher knows about grumpy old men. Michelle Fornaiser as Carol
is not so convincing, and not at all helped by the poorly written character she
has to play. She is the most un-bookish bookshop owner you’re ever likely to
meet and she’s given no room to develop as a character. Her performance was way
too big for the writing and she was given only one level - mean – which is hard
to watch for two hours. Despite all this, Fornaiser and Toyne work well
together and both have good comic timing.
The visually dull set doesn’t add much to the clichéd script,
and as usual when Downstairs at His Maj, I was left wondering why directors
struggle to think outside the square in that space.
The baby boomer generation is ripe with wonderful images and
Becher seems to have skipped over most of them. There are numerous references to
Western Australian places and people, which got some laughs; “The world is a
terrible place – look at Somalia,
Bosnia,
Northbridge.” But it’s the clichés by the truckload that begin to wear thin:
“I’ve told you a millions times not to exaggerate” and; “I’m trying.” “Yes, you are, very.” Are just two examples, and are
extremely funny. When you’re ten.
I say go
see it just to prove me wrong and then come back and harangue me for the fun of
it. You never know – you might like it.
Perth Theatre Company
Baby Boomer Blues
Venue: DownStairs at the Maj, (His Majesty’s Theatre), Hay Street, Perth
Preview: Wednesday 9th July 2008
Dates: Thursday 10th July – Saturday 26th July 2008
Times: Monday - Thursday 7:30pm
Friday and Saturday 8:30pm
Tickets: Standard: $40/ Concession: $28.50/ Groups: 6+ppl:$30
Bookings: BOCS on 9484 1133 or www.bocsticketing.com.au
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