Review: RULES FOR LIVING at ARTS Theatre

Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Thursday 30th August 2018.

The latest production from the Adelaide Repertory Theatre Society, Rules for Living, is essentially a one-joke dark comedy about a dysfunctional English family that is gathering for Christmas lunch. It goes several steps further into madness, though, than Alan Ayckbourn's well-known dysfunctional family Christmas disaster, Seasons Greetings, seen recently in Adelaide.

English playwright, Sam Holcroft's 2015 play draws on the concept of cognitive therapy that was developed back in the 1960s by American psychiatrist, Aaron T. Beck. Those being treated learn coping mechanisms and techniques that help them to face their fears and cope with various situations.

Director, Megan Dansie, a prolific member of the amateur theatre community, saw the play when she was in England and has been looking for a chance to mount a production ever since. She has assembled a cast of very experienced performers for this production and maintains a good pace.

The members of this incredibly dysfunctional family, meeting for their Christmas lunch, all have things that they do that allow them to then do other things. These are their rules for living. The rules for this family appear projected onto a large screen on the rear wall of the set. Every time one of them enacts their rule, we know what is coming, and there is the humour. Taking away the knowledge that, when somebody obeys their rule, we know what their next action will be, would remove much of the comedy.

The family consists of the mother, Edith, and her two sons, Adam and Matthew. Adam's wife, Sheena, and Matthew's girlfriend, Carrie are with them, and Adam and Sheena's daughter, Emma, is in bed, feeling unwell. The father, Francis, is in hospital, but expected home at any time. All but Emma and Francis have their rules to follow.

As the rules are mentioned in the publicity, anyway, it is not giving anything away to tell that Matthew's rule is that he must sit down to tell a lie. Whenever he sits, we know that he is lying. Edith cleans to keep calm, so when she is cleaning we know that she is trying hard to keep her anger under control. Adam uses various accents when he is mocking the others. Sheena and Carrie also have their rules.

Penni Hamilton-Smith is the mother, Edith, and a nasty piece of work she is too, emotionally manipulative and self-centred, running the day like a precision military operation. Hamilton-Smith is an audience favourite and she regularly portrays the quirkiest of characters. Her many fans will be sure to enjoy her latest performance.

Steve Marvanek is the older brother, Adam, and Chris Eaton is the younger, Matthew, and there is considerable sibling rivalry between them. In their youth, Adam was a good cricketer, and Matthew did well in musical theatre productions, but their father destroyed any potential careers in those fields, and they have both followed, not too happily, in his footsteps. He was a solicitor, then took silk to become a barrister, and ended as a judge. The brothers, though, have only made it as far as being solicitors. Matthew is about to become a partner in his firm and his underachieving older brother is, naturally, jealous, another source of conflict.

Eaton was a little stiff at first, but warmed up in the role of Matthew. It was possibly just opening night nerves. He soon found his feet and his portrayal of Matthew, trying hard to avoid telling too many truths, contributed plenty of laughter.

Marvanek is probably better known for his dramatic roles, but he shows his flair for comedy in this production, as the unhappy and belligerent older brother, Adam. Adam's life has come to nothing and the little that he has is starting to unravel about him. Marvanek makes much of the chance to show off his skills with many different accents and high sarcasm.

Jaye Gordon is Sheena, buying into every possible idea to help her daughter, Emma, who has been diagnosed as having chronic fatigue syndrome. She has made gluten free, dairy free mince pies, with phyllo (filo) pastry, and is unhappy when Adam goes out for soy milk and returns with goat milk, since everywhere is shut for Christmas day. Their marriage, we learn, has hit a rocky patch, which should come as no surprise to the audience. Gordon is extremely funny as the overly protective and neurotic Sheena.

Megan Doherty is Carrie, the exuberant actress girlfriend of Matthew and who has an unfortunate habit of saying things that are inappropriate at the worst possible times. Doherty's Carrie, spending her first Christmas day with the family, is a bundle of unrestrained energy and zaniness.

Norm Caddick is the wheelchair-bound Francis who, having had a stroke is incapable of speaking coherently, but is still quite capable of putting on a wicked grin and groping Carrie when she gets close. Caddick gets plenty of laughs as the dirty old man.

Emma was played by Emily Hodgkison, on opening night, giving a delightful performance in spite of being on crutches. She's a real trouper. She is alternating with Alicia Hammond.

The entire household descends into total chaos at the end and it is only the entry of Emma that stops them, embarrassed by their own behaviour. This seemed to be the end of the play, with a blackout and applause after her monologue, but no. There was one short scene to follow that seemed to be attempting a happy ending, of sorts. I found it superfluous and feel that it brought the whole high level of hilarity down to a dull finish. It would be better to cut this scene, and send the audience out still laughing.

The functional set, by Dansie and Ben Todd, is an open plan kitchen and dining room that is lit by Richard Parkhill, who seems to be designing the lighting for most of the theatre companies around Adelaide, nowadays. People getting around the furniture, or sitting at the breakfast bar, does occasionally cause some blocking problems.

If you need a good laugh, you'll find some in this production.