Spencer presented by Lab Kelpie
Written by Katy Warner
A dysfunctional Aussie comedy obsessed with footy, fags and fighting amongst one another
The last Lab Kelpie performance I saw was A Prudent Man in 2018, which was also written by Katy Warner, as an hour-long political monologue with a very dark undercurrent. Spencer is much more accessible to the general Australian audience, with a dysfunctional Aussie family obsessed with footy, fags and fighting amongst one another. Lab Kelpie is a not-for-profit theatre company who select and commission Australian playwrights like Warner, who challenge the audience with the consequences of power, relationships and politics. To date, they have produced 213 performances over 65 venues to an incredible 14, 270 audiences since 2012!
When Marilyn (Jane Clifton, Prisoner/Cell Block H and feminist band Stilletto) finds herself surrounded by her three adult children all back at home fighting and teasing one another, it seems like nothing has changed since the kids were little and their Dad walked out one day never to return. The hilarious ocker lay-about and footy fanatic Ben is played brilliantly by Lyall Brooks, who incidentally was the Prudent Man. He teases and chastises his pole dancing sister (Fiona Harris, Flipside and The Librarians) and is jealous of the professional footy player and golden child Scott (Jamieson Caldwell, Blue Heelers and Hamlet). When Spencer, Scott’s newly revealed two-year old, is due to visit to meet the family, their estranged Dad turns up, played by the Green Room Award winner Roger Oakley (Home and Away). Marilyn loses it and goes into overdrive with party preparations whilst chastising her two “useless” kids.
Writer Katy Warner, describes family as “disparate bits and pieces that all end up in the same place…contradictory and cruel, loving and loyal”. This is how Spencer presents to the audience, a mélange of disparate scenes, some comical and some disturbing. Each of the actors mould the characters to perfection. However, the crazy foulmouthed drunken bully of a mother Marilyn, harkening back to her days as Margo in Prisoner, and her inept blokey footy wannabe Ben, steal the show with the weaker characters keeping the two in check.
The plot is simple, frustrating and boring at times. With only one set, in the living room of a house stuck in the eighties, the only dynamism is produced by the interaction of the characters. The foul-mouthed dialogue also seemed to be off-putting to some in the audience, with several of the more elderly couples leaving after only 20 minutes. However, there are some interesting scenes between the kids and their estranged Dad who they refer to as Ian. All sculpted around stealing Marilyn’s delicious sausage rolls, with ketchup that Ben sucked off the tip of the bottle, a metaphor as to how he lives his life.
Spencer is a domestic bogan black comedy, designed to entertain, frustrate and irritate as it delves into the darker side of family life.
QUT Gardens Theatre
23-24th August, 2019
By Dr Gemma Regan