1. Theatre Review by Rebecca Scully.
Surfacing sits you down on your Mum's couch. It even warms you up with a mug of tea, or a glass of
wine, as you relax in the lamplight in your old lounge room. Everyone in Surfacing is someone you
already know; surely, you've heard these four voices before, the banter of friends-of-friends, the jibes
of past schoolmates. The familiarity created in Sydney Rd's 'Studio 246' is so authentic, you hardly
expect the sudden, compressive plunge to a front-seat view of the icy waterhole that is Australia's
most unglamorous illness, depression.
It's a hard sell; Melbournians side-step the mere topic of depression with same quick-footed
automatism evolved to magnetically repel potential 5pm Swanston St surveys. Playwright and actor,
Tracey Mathers, a siren-of-words offering a veritable trove of dialogue treasures, will have you
desperate for every line, nonetheless. Her characters whet an insatiable auditory appetite, with such
elaborate and finely-crafted bouts of miscommunication as never before heard. At times, you're
swept up in charming bagatelles of bitter-sweet friendships. The pas-de-deux arguments between the
hopelessly charming, unlucky-in-love and underemployed-in-acting-gigs, Natalie (performed by
Mathers), and her footy star brother (JR Richards), are delightfully funny ("tissues for your iss-sues?").
And, spookily, a handful of exchanges are not too far off any given Aussie suburban-household
rampage.
Gary (Richards), unmercifully fires fierce shrapnel rounds of self-hatred and disgust in the most
authentic genre of the 21st Century male soliloquy; the TV-screen-rant (the TV being eerily situated
over one's shoulder, no less). Coach and best mate, Steve (Kane Felsinger), delivers an impressively
physical performance and traverses the set whilst contributing a dimension of speed and
hyperactivity. He expands and commands the space, voicing loudly what could essentially be the
unsuspecting opinions of choruses of Aussies.
But if there is just one reason to patron this production, it's to visually and wholly devour the 99 carat,
flawlessly sensitive acting technique in Tassie-born actor, Sarah Hamilton, the paragon of early
mother, Kate. The actor masterfully tours the razor-toothed blade-edge between strength and
vulnerability. Her character, Kate, is the epitome of sanity in support of her mates, and truly, terrifyingly
lost in hushed scenes where a faintly delivered lullaby "...life is but a dream" can evoke such
atmospheric dissonance as if to entrap you in a once-forgotten nightmare.
Surfacing artfully engages and gauges a flow of mental illness dialogue. Prepare for an organic
spectrum of perspectives from depression as a character flaw, to depression as a physical
impediment; an interaction between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex which cannot be simply
sucked in, hardened up, skulled down or diluted by everybody's best-all-rounder, the cuppa tea.
The later scenes climax to the pressure of textured contrapuntal ruminating sequences and
memories, and the production does not disappoint in its ambitious promise. That is, it does leaves you
surfaced, breathless even, but yet, somehow still in darkness, disoriented. What is the trajectory these
characters take after the events they have endured? Are they left capable of employing their new-
found remorse, injury and awareness to help surface their fears and ideas of depression, or can they
possibly plunge further? But that's not really the point, is it? The more tangible result is in those of us
left at the other side of the lounge room.
Surfacing is directed by Nathan Gilkes and produced by The Alias Project. It is playing at
Studio 246, 246a Sydney Rd, Brunswick, right through to Saturday 9 June @ 8pm and on
Sunday 3 July @ pm. Tickets 25/20. www.trybooking.com (transaction fee).