The Men

I'm not one to write reviews, but after watching "The Men" at Camelot Theatre, I feel somewhat inspired. DISCLAIMER: I know the director and one of the actors from this show. It was partially because I know them that I decided to attend. "The Men", by Australian writer Chris Dickins, is a production by Drinking Lizard productions and the Menswork Project Inc. and is touring multiple venues across Perth. The 1 hour 15 minute production starts at 8.00pm and the run continues until July 30th. Four old school friends (Carmelo Lenzo, Fred Lawson, Conrad Crisafulli and Peter Fry) meet for a reunion in a pub. Four displaced me, disposable men, decent men looking back on their lives, their places as men in the world, their identities defined by their roles, their masks. What happens when the mask is dropped? Who is living behind the tough guy, the conscientious worker, the joker? I went along to this with no real expectations aside from a vaguely entertaining night out. I walked away having recognised many men in my life and having gone on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. The actors delivered superbly powerful depictions of the male psyche, covering everything from life and death to first experiences to the size of their erections. There were elements of blokey banter interspersed with serious soliloquies, all delivered with the disillusionment and brokenness of men displaced from the workforce. The soliloquies gave the characters the opportunity to confide in the audience, giving all the facts and feelings they would not and could not share with their friends. The set was minimalist - four swivel bar stools in a line. This, in combination with effective lighting from a spotlight gave more power to the soliloquies as the men were isolated. Post-show each night is a facilitated discussion session with the cast. This allowed for audience discussion of what had been seen and any emotions/feelings that the production evoked. Certainly worth sticking around for. Many congratulations to the cast and crew on a production that really does show, to quote one of the actors in the discussion session, "We all have the same story, so we are not alone. We are all connected."

Noting the lack of activity on this site I suspect writing a review serves little purpose beyond giving me an opportunity to vent. But after seeing this show I feel the need for a rant, so here goes. The blurb warns some scenes and language may offend ..... shit, the whole night was offensive!! Foul language, anger, shouting, obscene references and gestures - man this little "gem" had them all. But most offensive of all was the subject matter - men and their "issues"; their inability to communicate; their fraught relationships with their fathers; their perverse insistence on dealing with their pain by hiding it and deflecting it, along with the blame, onto others - usually family - thereby causing them even greater misery. Wow - to quote the showbiz anthem.... "That's Entertainment" - NOT. Thus my jumbled thoughts churned around in my head at the conclusion of this play last Saturday. But, shit, most of the audience were pissing themselves laughing most of the time. And when I listened to the chat session afterwards, guys like me who should have been slating this piece of crap were praising it and discussing the deep emotions it had evoked. WTF? After a few days of thinking about it - and I've done a lot of that - I think I get it. And I think lots more people should give themselves the opportunity to get it. Perhaps reluctantly, I'd have to say: "Go see this". Oh, all else aside - artistically it was great.

The Men

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