THE GREAT LIE OF THE WESTERN WORLD
Fiona and Simon are a couple living the daily grind, observing the status quo and plodding along with work and bills and hangovers. But that’s what life is about, right?
An upcoming play at the TAP Gallery, The Great Lie of the Western World, shows its audience that there are alternatives out there.
The Great Lie developed out of conversations between Alistair Powning and Michael Booth, two members of the Sydney-based independent theatre collective Cathode Ray Tube.
“We spoke about the hectic work-life that he [Powning] is involved in and what we’d really like to be doing instead,” says Booth, who assisted Powning in writing the play.
“It’s a relationship drama about the pressure we are under to pursue mortgages, marriages, kids, et cetera. The … couple love each other, but can’t speak openly because they don’t want to burden the other person with worries.”
It is Booth himself who provides the seemingly simple substitute:“being true to yourself.” Booth plays Emerson, who drops into the lives of Fiona and Simon (Kate Skinner and Alistair Powning) and unpicks their apparent domestic contentment, forcing the couple to confront a series of existential questions.
Cathode Ray Tube aims to make accessible theatre and attract audiences who would not usually the theatre.
The Great Lie is the company’s third original work in as many years and it follows on from previous successes That Old Chestnut and Thirty-Three.
Mar 28-Apr 21, TAP Gallery, 278 Palmer St, Darlinghurst, $18-25, trybooking.com/BCZE
BY CARLIN HURDIS
