Review: UTILITY, Orange Tree Theatre

In many ways, the timing of the European premiere of American playwright Emily Schwend's award-winning play Utility could not be more prescient. The portrayal of a quotidian Texan family trying to live an ordinary life and having to battle to stay afloat in challenging economic circumstances is an all-too familiar story in today's financial climate.

We are introduced to Amber who is juggling two jobs, three young children and a potentially unfaithful and largely unemployed husband Chris. She is preparing for her daughter's birthday party when the electricity cuts out. Chris has forgotten to pay the bill and now the party must take place in the blistering heat without air conditioning or a fridge.

Robyn Addison is a revelation as Amber; she gives a beautifully raw performance as a prickly woman who is bitter and disappointed about the difficult hand that life has dealt her. Her hurt bubbles under the surface, but never explodes, as she has to keep going for her childrens' sake.

Robert Lonsdale as husband Chris is charmingly disheveled, trying to help but never doing enough to satisfy Amber. His patience at her constantly biting comments is admirable. Addison and Lonsdale have a good chemistry; showing the weariness of a couple who have been together a long time and have been ground down by what life has thrown at them.

Matt Sutton is also great as Chris' slightly awkward brother Jim. He inelegantly stomps his dirty boots through the clean kitchen and initially appears to have little about him, but has hidden depths as he is clearly in love with Amber. He continually helps his brother's family without a word of thanks. Sutton is also responsible for one of the play's highlights; a monologue reminding Amber of what she was wearing and what she said on a certain afternoon when they were all still in high school is quietly heartbreaking. This is emphasised when Chris fails to remember anything about the night when he said he was going to marry her.

Jackie Clunes is brilliantly funny as Amber's acidic mother Laura. She attempts to help, but not too much and sits in the kitchen pointing out all the things that need doing but failing to do any of them.

As with many plays at the Orange Tree, it is the tiny actions in a production that can be savoured; Director Caitlin McLeod makes the most of the small details such as Chris swearing while he blows up party balloons, Amber making peanut butter sandwiches with barely concealed frustration and Jim thoughtfully zipping up the childrens' school bags. Max John's design of the family's rough and ready kitchen reflects the everyday normality of the play with lovely sound design from Max Perryment; crickets chirrup, dogs bark and cars zoom by the kitchen window.

The play should be an unforgiving look at the challenges of the everyday domestic life when there is not enough money to move forward. It's enough of a challenge to tread water, without the realistic prospect of things ever getting easier. However, there seem to be several inconsistencies with this narrative. The couple don't have $25 to pay the minimum off the electricity bill and have to cancel the clown for the party and yet their daughter has a new bike for her birthday, Amber and Chris keep entering with more and more bags of things for the party and Chris talks about popping to Walmart to get a bike helmet. There is no mention of credit or debt and this leaves the true financial situation uncertain.

There is, however, a raw authenticity to the play: life is a series of days to be lived through rather than a thing to be enjoyed; it was notable that there is only one 'thank you' and no mention of 'please' in the whole play. Life is too hard to be polite. There is a genuine and natural narrative in Schwend's writing, but there is something lacking at its heart. Despite the great acting and carefully constructed dialogue, you are constantly waiting for something to happen that never comes. Silence and stillness is an intrinsic and necessarily reflective element of the play, but sometimes it is too much and you yearn for more dialogue and action.

The lack of any real progress in the story can feel frustrating, but there is a lot to enjoy about this production, particularly the nuanced performances from a talented cast, enhanced by the brilliant intimacy of the Orange Tree.

Utility is at the Orange Tree Theatre until 7th July

Photo Credit: Helen Murray

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