Chalkface – REVIEW
Image: Catherine McClements is jaded teacher, Pat in Chalkface by Sydney Theatre Company. Photo: Prudence Upton
The fun begins before any actors walk on stage. Set designer, Ailsa Paterson’s recreation of a typical public primary school staffroom provides loads of Easter eggs for the early patron. Peeling paint, mis-matched vintage armchairs, pigeon holes with teacher’s names on them, blackboard, retro kitchenette, printed messages on A4 sheets stuck indiscriminately to vertical surfaces.
It’s hard for the side of your mouth not to curl up in a knowing smile – and that’s what happens throughout this intuitive, hilarious play. The Sydney Theatre Company’s Chalkface by Angela Betzien, centres on a group of teachers in the fictional West Vale Primary School over the course of a school year.
The uncertain flicker of the fluoro light when the first teacher enters the staffroom is typical of the many situational gags sprinkled throughout the play. And, if the ripple of giggles in the audience is any indication, the gags work.
It’s not all prop humour, however. The characters – or perhaps, caricatures – are spot on, and the dialogue is witty and smart – a mixture of blunt comedy and “think about it” nudge, winks. Within the humour is a scathing commentary about inequality and inadequacy of the public education system.
Try to imagine To Sir With Love as an ABC sitcom and you’ll come close to the aesthetic of Chalkface. There’s an undercurrent of cynical nihilism but it belies the ultimate sense of hope and redemption that emerges.
The cast is brilliant. Catherine McClements plays Pat, an embattled veteran of over 20 years in the education system, whose once admirable dedication has been worn down by bureaucracy.
Susan Prior is Denise, a ditzy kindergarten teacher who discovers she is pregnant early in the year. Ezra Juanta is Steve, a nervous young teacher with a back injury who believes he is being stalked by one of the parents. Michelle Ny is Ms Filch, the school administrator who was dubiously ejected by the bank for whom she previously worked. She jealously guards the stationary cupboard and public address microphone.
Nathan O’Keefe plays the principal, Douglas Thatcher. He is tall, thin, wears his long hair in a pony tail, and uses faddish corporate lingo to discuss school goals. In his first appearance on stage, he is wearing black lycra and carrying a flashy new bicycle.
And finally, Stephanie Somerville plays Anna, freshly graduated, filled with enthusiasm, and a specialist – as she tells us frequently – in neuroplasticity.
Another important character who is only alluded to, never seen, is a volatile student named Hurricane Little. His return to the school to repeat a year is the crisis that initiates the narrative.
This play is a lot of fun and genuine laughs every few minutes. And, like every good educational tool, you might actually learn a life lesson along the way.
