Book Review: The Performance by Claire Thomas

The Performance by Claire Thomas

Published 2021

Hachette

I wanted the first book I read in my reading chair to be a good one. 

It was. 

I loved this quiet reflection on women's lives. 

The book centres around a performance of Samuel Beckett's Happy Days in a modern Melbourne theatre. It course of the book looks at the interior thoughts of three women, at different stages of their lives. Margot, a university professor coming to the end of her career ponders her life with her husband and the things she may have done differently. Ivy, an unexpectedly wealthy woman, now a patron of the theatre, views her take on motherhood and gaps between her early life of scrimping and her new found wealth. And Summer, an usher at the theatre, who ponders her birthright, her studies and worries about her girlfriend who is caught up in the bushfire emergency taking place outside the theatre walls. 

This is a very Melbourne book, but its themes are universal.

The writing is stunning. Sparse and evocative, it moves effortlessly between the women watching the play, and onstage Winnie and Willie, the two characters, perform this piece of seminal theatre. Art imitates life throughout the book. Although I am not acquainted with this Beckett play, I loved how the characters related to their time in the theatre. 

Claire Thomas is a Melbourne writer who also teaches at Melbourne University. Her pedigree shows through the book. It's intelligent, but it also has great heart. Thomas has a deep understanding of the intricacies and struggles of modern womanhood. 

I'll be the first to admit that this book will not be for everybody, the theatre references making it inaccessible to some. But this has piqued my interest, not only in Claire Thomas's other works, but in Samuel Beckett's plays. So much so that I've dragged out a copy of Billie Whitelaw's autobiography given to me 25 years ago. She was Beckett's muse and has a bit to say about performing in his plays. 

If you like your thought provoking, considered books, give this one a go. 

I give it a solid four stars. 

Today's song: