IT’S WAR is a very funny, if completely politically incorrect satire about two neighbouring couples whose friendship turns sour when one pair decide to do backyard extensions. Shane and his Vietnamese wife Ngoc Bich keep their plans under wraps until it is too late, and when Soula and Pandelis find out about the new verandah, they are furious.
IT’S WAR is about coping with neighbours from hell and shifting allegiances in a landscape that is constantly shifting. Initially both couples are united in friendship and their battles against Mona, a leopard-skin clad stirrer on the street who drops in to gossip and boss the others around.
The play featured good performances, especially scene-stealer Maria Tran who plays Ngoc Bich. Ngoc is a shrewish Asian bride who keeps her Aussie husband well under her thumb. Ngoc is hilarious, she gets all the best lines and she has a low opinion of Australian men, dismissing them all as pussies. And on the subject of felines, cat is not on the menu for anyone in IT’S WAR, especially for husbands Shane and Pandelis.
Fun, even over the top performances make this an amusing play, though after a while I felt a little uneasy at some of the humour. While the play ostensibly supports tolerance, the real message seems to be about how not to be a racist prick, and instead be an equal opportunity arsehole. The anger and violence that explodes in the play between Ngoc Bich and Soula isn’t really diffused through understanding or forgiveness, but rather their mutual loathing of Mona, and the humour would have sat a bit better if some of the jokes hadn’t been milked to death.
Worth seeing? I’d say yes, just because something may have the potential to offend doesn’t necessarily mean that it will offend, so leave your PC sensibilities at home and get yourself a ticket.
Featuring: Chris Argirousis, Marissa Marie Kaye, Janette Lakiss, Alex Lykos, Ben Maclaine, Helena Stamoulis and Maria Tran.
Presented by M & J Chickens and Bulldog Theatre, written and directed by Alex Lykos.
The Sunday performance this weekend has moved to Saturday, so there will be two performances today, for more information see: http://www.factorytheatre.com.au/events/factory
This review was originally published on Joy’s website – – – http://www.thebuzzfromsydney.com/