Review: Happy Days

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Julie Forsyth and Peter Carroll in Happy Days ... two of Australia’s most brilliant stage actors. Pictures: Jeff Busby.

POSTED: 12 NOVEMBER 2009

Happy Days, by Samuel Beckett

Malthouse Melbourne & Company B | Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills, Sydney | Until 13 December

Coincidence? Downstairs, Belvoir is currently showing Bliss. Upstairs, it’s Happy Days. Such jolly sounding shows, but don’t be fooled. Both traverse aspects of the human condition that, while engaging humour and hope, also plunge fairly relentlessly into desperation.

Michael Kantor has brought Samuel Beckett’s classic script to Company B with flair, courage, and two of Australia’s most brilliant stage actors in Julie Forsyth and Peter Carroll.

Winnie (Forsyth) is trapped. Buried firstly to her waist, and later to her neck, she soliloquises on life as she faces an almost certainly unhappy fate. Willie (Carroll) is nearby. Despite Willie’s often lack of response, Winnie maintains a dialogue and commentary, relentlessly optimistic and spirited. The smallest thing becomes a cause for thankfulness, a chance to state, “This is going to be another happy day.”

There is no doubt that this is Julie Forsyth’s show. Despite being largely immobile, she is utterly mesmerising. Every nuance of the text is perfectly conveyed by her expressive face. That she maintains character and energy for the entire production, while so encapsulated, is astounding.

Although limited in his appearance and interaction, Peter Carroll’s Willie is similarly compelling. A largely monosyllabic, enigmatic figure, Carroll’s Willie seems both comedic and menacing.

Beckett originally described the setting for Happy Days as parched earth, and later as a barren expanse. The set as used in this production was more distracting. Spikes and protrusions engulf Winnie as they shelter Willie. Although my seating was several rows back, I can imagine that for those closer to the front sightlines may have been an issue. A curtain surrounds the rubble, and brilliant lighting illuminates Winnie’s increasingly despairing face.

The openings to both Acts, courtesy of the steady drawing back of the curtain, blaze of light and cacophonous sound, are dramatic and spectacular. While the surprise of the set in the First Act is remarkable, the second is perhaps more memorable for the drawn, haunted look in Winnie’s eyes.

Beckett is certainly challenging to watch. The often-poetic language, use of pause and repetition, requires intense concentration to fully appreciate. For students, aspiring actors and anyone involved in any aspect of theatre design and craft, this production should be compulsory, especially to witness Forsyth’s performance and her command of the space.

It is possible to take away much from Happy Days. It is also possible to be totally confounded. Dramaturg Maryanne Lynch quotes Beckett’s advice to a Winnie whilst directing: “Don’t ask me for any meaning in the thing; it is just what it is.”

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