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POSTED: 15 SEPTEMBER 2011 Smashed, by Lally Katz | Directed by Clare Watson Griffin Independent | Stables Theatre, Kings Cross | Until 1 October Smashed is the fifth collaboration between prolific playwright Lally Katz and director Clare Watson. Two long-term friends, Ruby (Katherine Tonkin) and Hazel (Suzannah McDonald), share with us their fantasies and dreams against a cosmos backdrop of recollection and recall. The action takes place on the tiny stage, a toy town established by a doll’s house, miniature churches and caravans. The set serves as a constant reminder of how small our lives really are. There is an air of unreality which pervades the piece. The everyday is only one aspect of this story of adolescent relationships and some of the scenarios, given the main theme of time travel, are quite bizarre, but we are never alienated thanks to Clare Watson’s theatrically inventive direction. Certainly the quantum physics is, to the less scientific members of the audience, perplexing but at the same time original, intriguing and risky. The information is presented in an accessible, often comic manner and not necessarily in chronological order. Tonkin and McDonald are impressively committed and focused, and create a believable reality. Their performances are meticulously detailed by their refined physicality, especially McDonald, who as Hazel is quite hypnotic. They are both wonderfully expressive and exude childlike qualities that transfer the theme of power of the imagination — imagination that can set us free. The set design is semi-surreal, imaginatively staged and Rob Miller makes a significant artistic contribution. Tonkin and McDonald for most of the time resemble oversized puppets, towering over the small dwellings against a backdrop of twinkling stars. Cleverly written, the show wanders in and out of a surreal state and carefully weaves comic and tragic moments into an effective balance. And somewhere between the confusion and science lies a provocative evocation of feminine adolescence and the rituals and values we associate with it. The theatrical realisation of these complexities of shifting realities and time travel is enchanting and engaging but also abstract, oblique and skilfully executed. When all these complexities fold together they create a shimmering present, a forceful embrace of human intricacy. There is no neat conclusion as to what, ultimately, the play is about, but its major concern is the small but vital ways in which human beings can help each other survive and transition. Clare Watson’s detailed and discerning direction ensures that all the abstract ideas achieve coherence through stage action and symbol. At 45 minutes it is a brief theatrical experience, but certainly a worthy one.
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