feast: bison

Last year Focus Theatre came to town for Feast with Lachlan Philpott's Blowing Whistles... this year they return with another one of his plays, Bison...

It's a very different play from the last one... there's no linear story, in fact the whole thing kind of feels like this free association chorus... particularly the very beginning of the play (which doesn't really make any sense until the very end of the play).

Just don't ask me what the hell the title is about... bison are mentioned a couple of times but it's all a little vague.

The promotional blurb says that Bison "follows four guys as they search for that illusive special something in the gay hunting grounds of Sydney and beyond"... which is both true and misleading. Like I said... it's non linear... there's something of a story thoughline for each character, but they're drawn broadly enough to be architypes... the freshly gay boy, the guy who can't get over the ex, the sexpig and the old guy.

Since there are only four actors on stage, they take turns to fill out any other characters that are needed which definitely adds to the feeling of architypes.

While the writing is very funny in parts, and particular dead-on as far as the gay scene is concerned in others (or sometimes both), the play didn't affect me anywhere near as much as Blowing Whistles, mostly because of the lack of a story I think.

The four actors are exceptionally good... Quinn Gibbes as "Tom" (running from his ex), John Turnbull as "IT Dick" (the old guy), Christopher Tomkinson as "Simon Size-King" (the sexpig) and Vincent Hooper as "Just-Out Jason" (the transformation scene from "closeted and suburban" to "uber princess" is scarily accurate)... they're each very different from a physical standpoint but each guy inhabits their role well... particularly Turnbull (the bar scene between him and Hooper is quite sweet)... although my particular favourites were Tomkinson and Hooper... both very engaging and funny as well as being, in their own very different ways, cute as proverbial buttons. Which is not to say that Gibbes wasn't good as Tom, but I just never really connected with the character.

Sidebar: Vincent Hooper was also one of the stars of The Twink & The Showgirl which I didn't get a chance to see at the Cabaret Festival... is it incredibly juvenile and shallow that I'm pleased that when I finally did get to see him in something, I got to see him naked?

Although, granted the nudity is right at the end of the play and if I'm being honest, beyond the "ooooh peen... big peen and uncut peen and little peen and old peen" moment it actually wasn't overly sexual.

Oddly the whole play was a little bit like that... sexual, but not really. To borrow from the televisions ratings people, I think it was more "adult situations" than "sex scenes" if that makes any sense. Even the sexpig story with the video camera and dropped trou was more troubling than erotic.

Still worth seeing though... its a well acted, well written if sparcely produced and non linear bit of theatre.

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