REVIEW: Outhouse Theatre Co's ULSTER AMERICAN Is Revived For An Encore Season at Ensemble Theatre

Saturday 18th May 2024, 2pm, Ensemble Theatre

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Shane Anthony’s (Director) presentation of David Ireland’s (Playwright) ULSTER AMERICAN returns to the Sydney stage at Ensemble Theatre.  Subtly updated for the intervening 3 years since it’s Seymour Centre premiere, this dark comedy retains a relevance in a world where we are still battling against fragile masculinity that seeks to silence strong women.

First staged for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018, David Ireland’s award winning 75-minute play is still brilliantly funny and disturbing the second time around.  The deliciously dark comedy centers on the first meeting between Oscar winning Hollywood actor Jay Conway (Jeremy Waters), ambitious London stage director Leigh Carver (Brian Meegan) and up-and-coming Northern Irish playwright Ruth Davenport (Harriet Gordon-Anderson). The trio are preparing to start rehearsals of Ruth’s new play “Shrapnel” about the Troubles in Northern Ireland but Leigh is more interested in stroking Jay’s immense ego in the hopes that a hit play will secure him the coveted position of Director of The National Theatre, than defending the integrity of the project and standing up for the feminist beliefs he claims to hold.  Once Ruth gets over the initial dazzle of the celebrity and the news that he’s shown the script to Quentin Tarantino, she finds herself in a situation where her voice is gradually getting silenced with an incredible amount of mansplaining, dismissal for being an emotional woman, and side deals to rework her script without her knowledge. 

Veronique Bennett’s (Set and Lighting design) London loft apartment has been recreated for the Ensemble stage with some minor modifications for the unusual space and the need to allow the stage to also serve SWITZERLAND, the show being run in repertory.  The staircase is bought within the apartment, previously outside the repurposed factory windows, and the couch is now presented as square to the center audience.  These modifications allow for more connection than the original season and take the thrust stage configuration into consideration.  Claudia Kryszkiwicz’s costuming is also tweeked for the new season. Leigh is given a touch more formality with jacket and button-down shirt to convey the British stuffiness even within his own home, Ruth’s style is simplified which subtly shifts her character to a more mature and conservative tone and Jay’s Hollywood hunk persona relies more on Waters’ acting than the previous overt styling of his black ensemble.

While the #MeToo movement has quietened over the past years with Hollywood making more moves to show its intolerance for bad behavior, the problem of gender-based violence is in the spotlight, particularly in Australia.  This and the continued wariness of who really is an Ally of feminist ideals, the LGBTQI+ community, and other minorities, ensures that ULSTER AMERICAN still retains a relevance as Jay and Leigh claim to be feminists but seem to be anything but as they muse about justifying sexual assault on women, challenge how Ruth defines her own identity and dismiss her rights to maintain control of her own creation. 

This production of ULSTER AMERICAN remains a captivating piece of dark comedy that will have you roaring with laughter and shocked into silence in turns.  The strong trio work well together to deliver an unforced and intuitive performance.  If you havent seen this, don’t miss it this time.  If you have seen it before, go again as you’ll still be thoroughly entertained and stunned.

https://www.ensemble.com.au/shows/ulster-american/