Jake Benson, left, Nick Carver and Anthony Kennedy are "The Boys" in Sophie Cuttriss’s production for the Wonthaggi Theatre Group. By Gill Heal
AT FIRST glance, The Boys mightn’t be your top choice for a good night out. Most people would opt for anything rather than a drama responding to the rape and murder of a Sydney woman back in 1986.
AT FIRST glance, The Boys mightn’t be your top choice for a good night out. Most people would opt for anything rather than a drama responding to the rape and murder of a Sydney woman back in 1986.
But there are good reasons why Sophie Cuttriss wanted to direct this serious drama for the Wonthaggi Theatre Group. With the recent spike in extreme domestic violence and the rise of the Me Too movement, public discussion of violence against women has never been more animated. Sophie saw The Boys performed to acclaim some years ago and was impressed by its impact. This play is not just about violence and abuse of power out there in a sad and sick world. In tracking this particular story and inviting us to ask why things happen in the way they do, The Boys loops round to ask questions of each of us.
Nick Carver, bass player in the recent WTG production of Chicago, saw the film and was impressed by its power. Now playing the middle brother in the Wonthaggi production, he is disturbed by how little progress Australian society seems to have made on the issue.
The Boys gives us the dominant male culture in a domestic setting: the casual contempt for women; “wheels” as an essential status symbol, the language, the acceptance of hierarchy within the family that allows these power structures to operate. We follow the trajectory, see the flaring fragile egos, the accumulation of frustrations, the flash points that open out into ungovernable rage ... And we ask questions: What has caused that rise in temperature?
That tension? Where will that lead?
The women are kinder, nurturers of a sort, but ultimately appeasers. The reasons are familiar. They are unpractised at self-assertion. They want to be liked. They know not to offend a fragile ego. Sandra, the mother, appears to provide strong direction. In the end, despite her efforts, the line in the sand she draws is too negotiable.
Nola, the pregnant girlfriend is played by Chloe Papillon. A newcomer to the Wonthaggi stage, Chloe says the role makes her feel vulnerable. “You feel trapped,” she says. “You feel everything you do will bite back at you, that you have no voice.” At the end of the play, Nola expresses hope for a different outcome for her child. Where she will draw the reserves of strength she needs for this formidable task is another question.
Different sorts of anger lead to different outcomes. There are glimpses of pain that help us understand the complexity of this male culture. In a brief intimate scene between mother and eldest son, Brett hints – he cannot say the words – at the brutalising experience of life in prison, the shame of sexual abuse. Eaten up by self-blame and loathing, he has a wholly negative understanding and definition of himself, and he has come home to changed circumstances – a shift in power.
In offering us a series of moments on stage to think about and ask why things follow in a certain way, theatre like this deepens our understanding of the world. We see the power structures that shut down choices, that shape what a man thinks it means to be a man, what a woman thinks it means to be a woman. We are thus more able to question the power structures in our own lives and acknowledge that maybe things are more complex than we first thought.
So much groundwork needs to be done to change societal attitudes and expectations, but conversations arising from theatre like this can help. Women have work to do too. We have more power than we think we have. We can learn better ways to be responsible for our own safety. Perhaps, where power relationships are concerned, the best opportunity that The Boys offers us all is to question our own attempts to live an ethical life.
Sophie Cuttriss acknowledges her “amazingly collaborative and courageous cast who are tackling above and beyond” what she’s asked of them, and thanks the Wonthaggi Theatre Group for having confidence in this play.
Wonthaggi Theatre Group’s production of The Boys is on at the WTG Shed, State Coal Mine, from Friday September 26 to October 6. Tickets on sale at www.wtg.org.au
Nick Carver, bass player in the recent WTG production of Chicago, saw the film and was impressed by its power. Now playing the middle brother in the Wonthaggi production, he is disturbed by how little progress Australian society seems to have made on the issue.
The Boys gives us the dominant male culture in a domestic setting: the casual contempt for women; “wheels” as an essential status symbol, the language, the acceptance of hierarchy within the family that allows these power structures to operate. We follow the trajectory, see the flaring fragile egos, the accumulation of frustrations, the flash points that open out into ungovernable rage ... And we ask questions: What has caused that rise in temperature?
That tension? Where will that lead?
The women are kinder, nurturers of a sort, but ultimately appeasers. The reasons are familiar. They are unpractised at self-assertion. They want to be liked. They know not to offend a fragile ego. Sandra, the mother, appears to provide strong direction. In the end, despite her efforts, the line in the sand she draws is too negotiable.
Nola, the pregnant girlfriend is played by Chloe Papillon. A newcomer to the Wonthaggi stage, Chloe says the role makes her feel vulnerable. “You feel trapped,” she says. “You feel everything you do will bite back at you, that you have no voice.” At the end of the play, Nola expresses hope for a different outcome for her child. Where she will draw the reserves of strength she needs for this formidable task is another question.
Different sorts of anger lead to different outcomes. There are glimpses of pain that help us understand the complexity of this male culture. In a brief intimate scene between mother and eldest son, Brett hints – he cannot say the words – at the brutalising experience of life in prison, the shame of sexual abuse. Eaten up by self-blame and loathing, he has a wholly negative understanding and definition of himself, and he has come home to changed circumstances – a shift in power.
In offering us a series of moments on stage to think about and ask why things follow in a certain way, theatre like this deepens our understanding of the world. We see the power structures that shut down choices, that shape what a man thinks it means to be a man, what a woman thinks it means to be a woman. We are thus more able to question the power structures in our own lives and acknowledge that maybe things are more complex than we first thought.
So much groundwork needs to be done to change societal attitudes and expectations, but conversations arising from theatre like this can help. Women have work to do too. We have more power than we think we have. We can learn better ways to be responsible for our own safety. Perhaps, where power relationships are concerned, the best opportunity that The Boys offers us all is to question our own attempts to live an ethical life.
Sophie Cuttriss acknowledges her “amazingly collaborative and courageous cast who are tackling above and beyond” what she’s asked of them, and thanks the Wonthaggi Theatre Group for having confidence in this play.
Wonthaggi Theatre Group’s production of The Boys is on at the WTG Shed, State Coal Mine, from Friday September 26 to October 6. Tickets on sale at www.wtg.org.au