Much kudos to the Sydney University Dramatic Society (SUDS) for their boldness and vision. The Society’s current production is of an original work, a first play by local playwright, . LADY has been staged after a lengthy period of workshopping by cast, writer and director.
LADY takes us back in time to the period of the first World War, a very different world from the one that we live in now. The play is set in a quiet country town and our main character, a young woman by the name of Lady, works as a washerwoman. It’s a life that she abhors.
Maddy Ward’s excellent design genuinely makes us feel that we are in this world. Large bed sheets hang across a clothesline that spreads itself across the back of the stage.
Centre of the stage, and very dominant, is a large, old fashioned bath. Through much of the action, Lady is hunched over the bath, vigorously scrubbing the latest bed sheets that have come her way.
Lady is not happy. She wants out. Out of her miserable, hard working life. And she also wants a way out of her painful, fractured relationship with her dysfunctional mother. Lady sees only one way out- to find a man, marry him, go elsewhere and make a new life for herself. We follow Lady’s struggle to reach her goal.
LADY is an engaging first play by Zlotnick that is competently directed by Shevvi Barrett-Brown. There is a bit of a Thelma and Louise feel to the work, in its very feminist take, depicting strong willed, aggressive women, going all out for their goal. One can’t help but feel that the implication is that she is a new kind of lady….
April Saleebe showed a good stage presence and gave a strong performance as the driven, feisty, tough protagonist. I read Zlotnick’s piece to be.
Harriet Cronley is effective as Lady’s controlling, suffocating mother.
Perri Roach shows nice touches as Lady’s close friend and confidante who also feels trapped in small country town life.
Bianca Farmakis gives an edgy performance as the witch/psychic character that Lady and her mum frequently consult.
Cailaan McKay and Xavier Holt play the two soldiers that come across Lady’s path. She tries her luck with both of them, hoping that they will be her ticket out.
Recommended, LADY is playing the intimate Cellar Theatre located in the basement of the Holme Building, Sydney University until 12 March.
http://sudsusyd.com/