YOUNG BODIES/SOMEBODY’S is an impressive first play by young Sydney playwright Miranda Michalowski.
Two sisters, June and Anna, face the harsh realities of adult life when their mother Dawn tells them that they will have to move out of home because she is quitting her apartment as she is going to move in with her boyfriend.
This comes as a huge shock to the two young women who have to grow up very quickly. As the playwright wrote in her program, note –
“The play is about feeling like a deeply messy person and not wanting to break out of the cocoon of being a kid and to live in the real world.”
Anna and June have both led very obsessive lives. 21 year old Anna is still busy exploring her sexuality, having many encounters with men who do not treat her respectfully. Anna is obsessed with getting good results with her university swim team. The stress of the two women having to make a new life for themselves away from the family home, sees them get on each others nerves and argue over the slightest of things.
The main journey of the play pivots around their relationship and whether they can find some sort of peace.
The central feature of the set is packing boxes that are strewn all around the stage, emphasising/symbolising lives on the move.
Jo Bradley’s direction was assured . Capri Harris’ lit the stage well and Daniel Herten’s soundscape was suitably atmospheric.
The three performances were good. Erica Nelson was convincing as the mother Dawn who, having raised her daughters to adulthood, was now concentrating her energies on her new partner.
Lulu Quirk gave a thoughtful, resonant performance as June though I feel she could have projected her voice better. With the soft pitch of her voice she was sometimes difficult to hear.
Samantha Lush gave an evocative performance as the younger sister Anna, whose impatient, restless spirit saw her often get into very compromised situations.
An edgy, slice of life drama, Miranda Michalowski’s YOUNG BODIES/SOMEBODY’S, produced by Carly Fisher,
is playing the Flight Path Theatre, 142 Addison Road, Marrickville until 28 May, 2022.
https://www.flightpaththeatre.org/whats-on/young-bodies-somebodys
Production photography by Barry Matthews
https://www.flightpaththeatre.org/whats-on/young-bodies-somebodys
Lulu Quirk and Samantha Lush in ‘Young Bodies/Somebody’s’Production photography by Barry Matthews