SWEET ROAD

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https://adelaiderep.com/season-2022/sweet-road

08/09/2022 until 17/09/2022

Sweet Road is a fascinating study of human relationships ‘driven’ to the edge in the outback of Australia. Three stories of love, loss and grief converge and intertwine as characters search for answers, reasons and purpose.

Written by Debra Oswald and staged by State Theatre Company in 2000, this play is a brave choice as there is little visual distraction for the audience; the text centers on the interactions of nine individuals who are initially separated but then thrown together by circumstances beyond their control.

Director Eric Strauts has wisely decided to add visual interest using levels and projections of the outback and petrol stations. This works well thanks to the unobtrusive but integral lighting by Richard Parkhill. Car seats are moved smoothly in and out of view and characters disappear behind a large central road that leads to nowhere.

The play begins and ends with Jo (Cheryl Douglas) who is devastated when she sees her husband kissing another woman. Her short drive turns into a road trip with no particular destination in mind until she meets Michael (Damien White) who has suffered a devastating loss and hits the road to try to forget his painful memories. While Douglas and White give us engaging characters, more vocal energy and contrast would have ensured their characters were fully developed.

Andy  (Jackson Barnard) and Carla (Gabrielle Douglas), together with unseen children and a dog are looking for a new start. Their attempt at escaping yet another disappointment, which seems to follow them wherever they go, thanks to Andy's crazy ideas and gambling, ends as it usually does; in disaster. Barnard and Douglas play their roles with enthusiasm and intensity.

Frank (Malcolm Walton) a widower retiree chooses to live life to the full rather than face a life of loneliness in a caravan park is sensitively played and one feels for his plight.

Josh van’t Padje excels in the dual role of the mechanic and surly Curtis. His quiet menace is cleverly nuanced.

Sailor Tylor gives us a Yasmin full of innocence and naivety. The cast is completed by Amelia Brzezickino (Receptionist) and Ash Merriel (policewoman), both clever character studies.

While there is an abundance of talent in Sweet Road, it does not quite work in this production. The script itself is better suited to a film where expressions and intimacy can be highlighted. In a big theatre these get lost and you find yourself being a ‘voyeur’ and not involved in the characters’ lives.

Sweet Road is a courageous choice for a medium sized theatre and almost gets there. I applaud the Rep for choosing to mount Australian content in these demanding times of theatre just beginning to emerge from COVID.

Written by Barry Hill