Left - Anthony Gee and Sophie HennserNeil LaBute’s fatalistic view of the sense of futility and rage that exists among the underclasses of suburban America provides an interesting, though unsettling, night in the theatre. LaBute’s tautly written play offers a grim picture of a dysfunctional family and the tragic consequences of generations of neglectful childrearing.
Washington is a city of social opposites accommodating, cheek by jowl, the seat of American power and extreme poverty. This is where LaBute has set his play, The Distance from Here. The main character, a junior high school student, Darrell (Anthony Gee), is a disaffected youth with no support and few prospects.
The play opens at the zoo with Darrell and Tim (Ben Welford) harassing the chimps, drawing the comparison between the animals’ captivity and the boys’ restricted opportunities.
The mall, the high school detention room, a loveless family, frozen dinners in front of the television and smoking are the cornerstones of Darrell’s life. In The Distance from Here all the characters smoke continuously. It is like they are sucking the life out of themselves. Smoking seems to be a necessary habit to fill lives that are devoid of opportunity, optimism and love.
In Darrell’s family, children are not nurtured, but endured and deemed unimportant. He lives with his tired and ground down mother, Cammie, poignantly played by Jeanette Cronin, who shows little interest in him, preferring to lavish her attention on her oafish, mechanic boyfriend, Rich (Andy Rodoreda). Cammie tells Darrell: “I don’t recall that much about you. Really. Growing up I mean.”
Her stepdaughter, Shari (Laura Bent) is a teenage single mother and embodies the second generation of disengaged parenting. Shari’s baby cries off stage throughout much of the play, but she has no interest in attending to him. In fact the cries are regarded by the entire family with contempt and indifference. As Shari says: “…Little hungry or wet himself, hey, so hold on a second. You grow up, you wait for shit all the time.” Shari is more concerned with men, even propositioning her younger half brother, Darrell.
Darrell’s upbringing has ensured he is incapable of positive relationships: he hangs out with his best friend, Tim, who he bullies, and his girlfriend Jenn (Lotte St Clair), who he regards with constant suspicion. Tim and Jenn are the only two characters that offer moments of decency, despite their similarly unloved, underprivileged, roots.
Director, John Sheedy, has assembled a uniformly strong cast which bristles with intensity. Anthony Gee’s Darrell is terrifically restless, spiteful and jealous. Laura Bent’s wanton, bored child/woman is chilling in her detachment as Shari. Lotte St Clair brings an astute mix of fragility and toughness to her role as Jenn.
Structurally, LaBute’s short, episodic scenes echo the tedium and unremitting hopelessness of Darrell’s life - to the point of discomfort for the audience. Sheedy’s direction intentionally heightens this discomfort, dispensing with the interval. The audience is made to share the characters’ pain. Each scene plays out aspects of Darrell’s grinding despair. They depict the cumulative effect of neglect, boredom, anger, indifference, violence, deceit and suspicion as the action moves, inextricably, toward the shocking climax of the play.
As Euripides said, “The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children”. LaBute’s play holds little hope for the future generations caught in this emotional desert. While I am not convinced that LaBute’s pessimistic play brings any new insights to the issue, it is a strong production of a play that we might otherwise not get the opportunity to view.
Inscription and Griffin Independent
THE DISTANCE FROM HERE
by Neil LaBute
Director John Sheedy
Venue: SBW Stables Theate 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross
Dates: 1 – 25 April
Times: Monday – Saturday 7pm, Saturday 25 April Matinee 2pm.
Bookings: Griffin Booking Line - 02 8002 4772 or online at www.griffintheatre.com.au
