Written and Co-Directed by Nicholas Brown
Dramaturg and Co-Directed by Declan Greene
Griffin Theatre Company
@ SBW Stables Theatre
General Seating
20 Feb, 2023
3.5 out of 5 fans
Fun, quasi-cultural romp just in time for world pride. Ard goes on a journey, both literally and metaphysically, leading to sexual awakening, a reckoning of his past, and embracing his authentic future.
This is a world premiere of this new piece, and is also my first experience with Griffin Theatre Company, which specialises in debuting new work. The production is quite remarkable: Brown’s script captivates, the staging and set/production values are innovative, and a talented cast playing two (or more) roles. I look forward to seeing more at Griffin in the future!
Early on, the script calls outs Western preconceptions of India – tourists mistaking the mundane for “mystical wonder”, racial profiling of those in the wellness industry, ridiculous notions of “gurus”.
As we get deeper into Act 1 and then Act 2, these labels and strict forms come undone, and the productions begins to explore how things “are”, versus how we expect them to be, the plurality of all things, and this is the beauty of the play.
Ard (Raj Labade) was so perfectly cast. Charming, with a casual sexiness about him, Labade draws us in to Ard’s journey with his endearing presence and cheeky smile. The production asks a lot of Labade, and he delivers in spades, from lovelorn beau, curious disciple, to tortured son and comic relief. He also knows exactly how to use the small space to great effect.
Like the rest of the cast, Ard plays another role as well, and so convincingly plays a younger version of his father who still lived in India at the time. The accent work (while played for a laugh earlier in the show) comes off as authentic, and you can easily forget you’ve just watched him speaking like an Aussie bloke for the previous hour.
Paired off against Labade for much of the show is Catherine Van-Davies’s Liraz. The duo are the perfect embodiment of subverted expectations, as the story we think we are going on with Ard and Liraz very quickly goes off the rails.
Van-Davies is so fun to watch, as a deeply spiritual (though misguided) wellness personality. As Van-Davies peels back the layers of Liraz’s past, she does such a wonderful job of exuding relatable pain of losing a lover. Van-Davies is the perfect ingenue, and if she looks familiar, it finally clicked that I’ve seen her recently on the SBS limited series ‘The Twelve’, where she portrayed one of the more visible members of the jury.
The ubiquitous and talented Stephen Madsen also appears in several featured roles. Madsen is most easily remembered for his six pack (I don’t think I’ve seen him in a role where he wears a shirt the entire time?), but that is quickly forgotten once you realise how damn funny he is. His characters get some of the best one-liners, but his delivery is sharp and perfectly timed, and he nails both the overt sexiness, and subtle humour as only a seasoned actor can.
And Blazey Best absolutely slays her multiple roles, including Ard’s mum (who has the fashion sense and empathy of Eddie from AbFab), and the hilarious guide Gondeshwar. Best disappears into her roles so deeply you’d be forgiven for not realising it is the same person playing both. There’s more I could say but you need to experience the performance yourself to truly appreciate her dedication.
Mansoor Noor and Veshnu Narayanasamy round out the ensemble. Noor is equal parts hilarious and insightful as Boyd, who despite how he comes in to the story is quite the voice of reason. Like the rest of the cast, Noor brings an understated sexiness to all three of his roles.
Narayanasamy is an exceptionally talented movement artist (what he did surpasses dancing in my opinion). Its a funny thing to watch a show which pokes fun at Western ideas of India and Hinduism, but to then be so captivated by the stories told through movement which make you want to learn more.
There were some things that didn’t quite work for me – maybe one too many trips to the astral plane?
The production reused a few motifs which went over my head, which I accept–not everyone is going to pick up the same things. But as the run time was already long, it felt like a diminishing point of returns may have been reached.
But, this was a preview performance, a new work and an ambitious production, so these things are all quite easy to dismiss.
I have to commend the cast for their bravery, for the multiple scenes which contain nudity. This is just one of the ways Sex Magick makes us confront our own sexuality during the two hour plus run time.
Another example is a narration of tantric massage with lights off save for some clever light and fog work. While some times played comically, this section of Act 1 borders on discomfort (but in a good way – growth through discomfort).