Melbourne Theatre Company's Cost of Living
With heart, humour and searing observation, Martyna Majok’s Cost of Living is an honest and insightful look at the forces that bring people together.
When Ani is reunited with her estranged husband Eddie after a devastating accident, their relationship shifts from divorcing to caregiving. John is an affluent PhD candidate with cerebral palsy, and has no qualms about making his support worker – fellow graduate student and bartender-by-night Jess – uncomfortable about her reasons for choosing the job.
Through the lives of four mismatched souls striving for connection, Majok’s Pulitzer Prize-winning script lays bare the exquisite tenderness and cost of being human.
With an ensemble cast including Rachel Edmonds (When You Wore Braces), Mabel Li (Safe Home), Aaron Pedersen (Mystery Road) and Oli Pizzey Stratford (Neighbours), Cost of Living taps into the essence of human connection and our universal need to care for others and ourselves.
Come and see why this heartfelt story of care and connection has been hailed a 'transcendent production' (The Age) and a 'theatrical landmark' (Limelight).
Feedback/Comments
Well produced, I liked the final act
Amazing show! So well acted
I didn't see this show but love Melb Theatre Co
Really powerful and authentic acting
Great performances and throughly engaging writing.
great to have a focus on the challenges people with disabilities can face - and to have people with disabilities in the play
I really enjoyed this, a very moving show and fantastic actors
Very intense but certainly worthwhile seeing
Deeply moving and profound
A glimpse into the world of love, loss loneliness, acceptance and the need for human interconnectedness. Our need for each other despite our ability to be cruel to one another even when we depend on others at the same time for care. The acting was very good and it was inspiring to have actors of all abilities play characters of all abilities. Aaron Pederson was wonderful as usual.
Poignant play about the intersectionality of suffering.
Very moving theatre piece portraying how carers need support also
Interesting
Unexpected, confronting and beautifully performed
Loved it.
Loved it!
Such a moving play
We'll staged and performed, interesting night
Gut wrenching and heartwarming - loved it
Ani was a standout!
We loved this insightful and we'll acted play
I learned so much of living with people and how each one is interndependent. Awesome show!
I cried, a fair bit- intimately exploring & connecting with the depths of human experience that were both universal & unique, with the depth of introspection to the vulnerability of people who are completely reliant on others, and their carers, candidly expressed & performed. Bravo
Amazing how much i cried
Powerfull performances, amazing cast and moving stories
Loved the show and the storyline. It opened up my eyes and a great performance.
Incredible!
Real life!
Surprisingly uplifting despite the subject matter
Excellent performances. A real insight into the difficulties of disabled people. But highlighting the need we all have for others, regardless of how we may be perceived by those around us. Very poignant. And the sets were very cleverly constructed
Amazing show, good performances
Heart-rending Fabulous!
Great show
absolutely memorising. what a set what a cast!
Absolutely brilliant production and performances from the cast. Such bravery from the disabled actors to show an insight into their everyday lives. I gasped during a bath scene, it was terrifying and so real. Really thought provoking and emotional. So well executed. Congratulations to all involved.
Very thought-provoking play
A heart-rending story that gradually set in, and by curtain I was sobbing! Wonderful performances all round.
Wonderful show, enjoyed every minute
Great seats thankyou, but didn’t enjoy the play, found the fake American accents unnecessary and difficult to understand. Long opening monologue and slightly clumsy interactions between the two able bodied characters, detracted from the moving message of this production.
This was so thought provoking. A great night of thinking, reflecting and going back out into the world a little more switched on
Very good
Omg this was outstanding. Would see it again
An authentic and confronting production. The rare silence in between is powerful.
too much to follow.
What an experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the play. Thank you for this great opportunity.
A little confronting but certainly made the point that everyone has a ‘cost of living’.
Complex themes and characters that aren't done justice by the script.
a very powerful production
Really enjoyed this show. Great cast. So many raw moments showing another side of how others live that some fortunate people don't know about. Brilliant script and acting.
It is confronting, powerful and thought-provoking. Something that you'd discuss over and over again. Highly recommend
Very thought provoking put together lovely with the performers. The americian accents detracted bit because it was hard to understand at time. But overall a beautiful story
What an extraordinary play! And what extraordinary performances by each of the four cast members! I have rarely seen such bravery from actors who allowed us to see into deeply intimate moments of living. Their vulnerability was breathtaking and moving. I feel privileged to have seen this production.
A very thought provoking show with the perfect name. ' The Cost of Living' - reflected beautifully with the 4 characters- Jess, Eddie, Ani and John. At the start some of the dialogue dragged a bit and was a little hard to understand but once it got going it was amazing. The raw emotion of the script and vulnerabilities shown made the show. Well written show and the revolving set was well done.
Brilliant production - thought provoking and challenged people's thoughts on disability. Highly recommend the production to any body
I was unsure what to expect and was very pleasantly surprised by just how good it was. 1 star off because the opening monologue was a lot to take in and the character is really unlikeable at first. There’s a place for that for sure but this was too much and really took me out of the narrative. Superbly acted and clever set design. Oli Pizzey Stratford was particularly notable and I’ll definitely make a concerted effort to see future productions he features in. Thought provoking, educational without being preachy (hard to do) and just a damn good show
Excellent production - Great direction, sets and acting
Excellent acting
Highly recommend this if your looking for a refreshing piece of theatre
The set design was fantastic
Very well written and acted stories, drawing you in to the lives gamut of emotions of the characters involved. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
The subject matter was the complicated interactions of intimacy, to be assisted by another and the contrast and similarities of different socio-economic groups and circumstances of the two couples. The actors covered well the subject, clear voices with beautiful expression of human feelings. Good timing and script, creating a variety of emotional responses for the audience. Humour, sadness and insight into the human condition was the outcome. The stage emphasised the economic differences well, and helped seamless transition with the rotating stage. Subtle writing allowed for interactions to express a variety of human behaviours and emotions, which the actors excelled at.
Great story.
Haven’t seen anything like it in a long time!
A moving and brilliantly acted production. The set is amazing and full credit to the Auslan translators.
Found it difficult to hear and that's a shame because content was excellent
Outstanding performances by all actors. Very thought provoking!