Sydney World Pleasure season has begun: throughout the town, theatre and efficiency corporations are producing works by, for and in regards to the world queer neighborhood – usually with a neighborhood twist. If we’re fortunate, Hubris & Humiliation, a brand new play by Lewis Treston making its debut at Sydney Theatre Firm, has simply set the tone for the weeks forward: an explosion of creativity and a celebration of queer pleasure.
Treston’s play, which received the 2021 new play award on the Australian theatre pageant in New York, is a camp homage to Jane Austen’s social comedies. Brisbane boy Elliott (Roman Delo) has been pining after his finest buddy Warren (Ryan Panizza) for over half his life. Nevertheless, all that mooning should be put aside when it's revealed that Elliott’s mom (Celia Eire) has been catfished so completely that the household is about to lose their house. Her scheme to recoup the losses? Ship Elliott to Sydney, the place he can dwell along with his estranged however wealthy Uncle Roland (Andrew McFarlane) till he finds a rich man to marry.
When Elliott crosses paths with aloof opera director William D Cray (Panizza once more), sparks fly Lizzie-and-Darcy model. When it’s revealed that Elliott’s sister Paige (Melissa Kahraman) has secretly arrived in Sydney too, dodging an imminent proposal from her candy however primary boyfriend Brendan (Mathew Cooper), shenanigans ensue.
The entanglements of affection, household, cash and sophistication chase these characters from a Dymocks bookstore to the lobby of the Sydney Opera Home, from a Marrickville warehouse occasion to a quick stopover in Berlin, the place a radical artist (Henrietta Enyonam Amevor) has loads to say in regards to the nature of affection.
Directed by Dean Bryant, who treats dialogue like a dance between characters, this play has a wealthy sense of tempo and tone, which manifests onstage with pleasant musicality.
Treston’s characters converse in a heady mix of Regency-era language and the broad, ingenious slang of up to date Australia – each of the regional, proudly bogan-identified selection and the extra hyperconscious cleverness of queer Sydney culturati. This shouldn’t work, however by some means it lands completely, no less than partly as a result of the corporate are so snug inserting a foot in each worlds. Courting prospects are in comparison with the cultural cachet of Smith’s and Purple Rock Deli chips, earlier than the romantic leads have interaction in florid and devastating banter. Name it the perfect of each worlds.
In a comedy, timing is the whole lot, and Bryant ensures the corporate is rarely off the beat. There are a dizzying quantity of jokes in Treston’s script, they usually all earn amusing from no less than among the opening night time viewers. There are two dozen or in order that appear to have everybody within the room roaring. The humour is refreshingly queer – suffused with love, even when it’s chopping – and the jokes are sharp however by no means merciless.
In roles that lesser writers would simply sacrifice on the altar of comedy – that's, the ostensibly straight mom and sister – Eire and Kahraman as a substitute usually ship the perfect jokes and all however run away with their scenes. This can be a play the place a twinkle within the eye means the whole lot, and these two shine the brightest – although the corporate is uniformly glorious, generally startlingly so.
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McFarlane’s Uncle Roland is a brand new entry in popular culture’s assorted beloved elder homosexual characters; his deployment of a plot twist within the type of an anagram written whereas drunk on limoncello is a murals.
Delo and Panizza, each making their Sydney Theatre Firm debuts, sizzle as rivals and love pursuits, and Cooper’s efficiency pretty much as good outdated Brendan has stunning coronary heart. Amevor performs two wildly totally different roles and approaches them each with ease and daring, enjoying most charmingly in opposition to fish-out-of-water Elliott as his a lot bolder counterpart.
Then there are the visible gags and motifs. On Isabel Hudson’s beautiful Regency-inspired set that summons ballrooms and Sydney Harbour suddenly, there are a number of dance scenes with sudden companions (choreographed by Sally Dashwood), a makeover scene and a reference to Baz Luhrmann that’s too joyful a shock to disclose right here. Hudson’s costumes are a confection of color, filled with references, glamour and camp sensibilities – you might write a thesis on the footwear every character wears – and they're instrumental in creating this romantic queer fantasy onstage.
Alexander Berlage’s lights present witty commentary all on their very own, whereas Mathew Frank’s composition and sound design is downright scrumptious, with Bridgerton-style Regency remixes of pop songs, witty authentic items and soap-operatic stings in emotional moments, elevating the manufacturing to new heights.
Queer diversifications of Austen have been executed earlier than: keep in mind final 12 months’s Fireplace Island, Joel Kim Booster’s great homosexual adaptation of Pleasure and Prejudice, to call only one latest instance. However Hubris & Humiliation may simply be the funniest: zeitgeist-y with out feeling compelled, camp with out self-consciousness, and simply divergent sufficient from these well-known tales to maintain audiences guessing.
Hubris & Humiliation is comfortingly acquainted, with sitcom sensibilities, particularly in its comedy setups and payoffs, nevertheless it nonetheless feels new. How usually will we see queer work that's foolish, proud and satisfyingly polished? How usually will we get to only experience queer comedy? It doesn’t occur usually sufficient, nevertheless it occurs fantastically right here.
Hubris & Humiliation is on at Wharf 1 theatre, Sydney Theatre Firm till 4 March 2023.
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