Theatre Review: Girls and Boys

The Play: Girls and Boys by Dennis Kelly

The Company: Melbourne Theatre Company

The Theatre: The Fairfax Studio at the Arts Centre

Until 26 November. 

Stars: 4.5

I love being surprised when it comes to theatre, and after the phenomenal year the Melbourne Theatre Company has delivered, I was thinking that we were due for a stinker. You see, after having a full access subscription to the MTC for the last ten years or so, in most years there will be one play that you walk out of at interval, a couple which were just okay, a lot of really good theatre and then an outstanding one which you'll talk about for ages. 

This year, the MTC delivered so many great performances. Fun Home, The Heartbreak Choir, Cyrano, Come Rain or Come Shine, The Sound Inside, Touching the Void... All very, very good. 

And now this one. Girls and Boys was marvelous. 

As usual, I went into this blind, not bothering to read up about what I was seeing - I like the surprise. After seeing Nikki Shiels in The Picture of Dorian Gray (alternating with Eryn Jean Norvill) earlier this year, I was aware this actor could hold an audience for a solid two hours without blinking. 

And she's done it again. 

The MTC blurb reads as follows:

"A smart, witty woman. A funny, passionate man. They meet, fall in love, get married, start a family. 

So far, so unremarkable. Their life together accumulates its regular successes and 

disappointments, its many universal touchpoints, until it takes an unexpected turn all too shocking, 

and all too common."

I won't say anything more about the plot. 

What I will say is that Nikki Shiels is an actress of our time who made the hour and fifty-minute performance feel like a half hour as she takes us through the life of her character, a wise, witty woman whose name is never divulged, who meets a guy, falls in love, has a family and then things fall apart.

The stage is spare. Minimalist to a point. This only lends to the performance, for she needs no more than a couch, a couple of chairs, a coffee table. a desk, a pen, and a projector. 

Dennis Kelly's play is timely, funny and brutal. The first half hour reminded me a bit of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads - and indeed, some of the segments have that Bennett-like humour and pathos - but this is more - oh, so much more. Kate Champion's direction is as sensitive as it is assured. 

And yes, some of the subject matter in the play is hard-hitting, bordering on horrific, and yes, the fact the programme up front links to organisations such as LifeLine, Beyond Blue, The White Ribbon Foundation and 1800 Respect should have tipped me off. But that will not put me off recommending this play. 

Nikki Shiels is an actress to watch, and she is utterly superlative in this. 

I'm still unpacking what when on in front of me, a couple of hours after leaving the theatre.

I'll be thinking about this for a few days, I think.

Tonight's performance had a full house. Take a mask and get a ticket if you can. It has about a week to run and it's too good to miss. 

Today's song: