In True West Theatre’s inaugural season, its productions are designed to reflect life in the heart of Sydney. Annie Byron’s RU4ME, based on Andee Jones’ 2010 book Kissing Frogs, certainly delivers on the company’s theatrical message.
Presented by: True West TheatreVenue: Riverside Theatres, Parramatta Friday, 21 October 2011
In True West Theatre’s inaugural season, its productions are designed to reflect life in the heart of Sydney. Annie Byron’s RU4ME, based on Andee Jones’ 2010 book Kissing Frogs, certainly delivers on the company’s theatrical message. At times the piece is like a love-letter to life in Western Sydney from someone who grew up there, RiverCat references and all. But that’s not the charm of this one-woman show about a woman in her fifties dipping her toe into internet dating. The charm of the show comes from Annie Byron’s character Connie, and Connie’s quietly progressive feminist beliefs. For a little over an hour we get to know Connie, a vibrant and confident older woman who, while feeling no great need to get married, would really like a companion in her life. She signs up for an internet dating service called RU4ME at the behest of her daughter, and begins her search. It’s a funny story from the first exploration of profiles (she notes all the men seem to be interested in “arthouse movies” but can’t remember seeing any of them at the DENDY), but it also has heart, and it’s only because Annie Byron’s Connie is so likable that we are able to follow her journey with genuine interest. There are mishaps, of course – the unexpected, overtly sexual messages that any first-timer on a dating site is almost guaranteed to find scandalous; and the agony of mixed messages and one-sided interest. There’s even a man who won’t date anyone west of the Harbour Bridge. Connie’s cautiousness soon gives way to a curious, though not surprising, addiction to the dating game. She buys more of “cupid’s arrows” to give to potential matches on the site. She sets up more and more dates with a growing sense of urgency. She starts to question what it is, exactly, she wants, and what it is that these men seem to want. Always comic and cleverly transitioned with costume changes (a scarf adds glamour and time-date differentiation) and use of the different chairs scattered around the stage, Connie’s journey is a whirlwind that leaves her breathless and energised in equal amounts, and Byron’s generously candid performance keeps her audience hooked. The most interesting undercurrent of the piece, however, is the constant, though gentle broach of the topic on gender roles as they are perceived by Australian men. It’s a fascinating study of, particularly, the older men who feel that the “rules” were different when they grew up, in what’s virtually another time – when feminism perhaps wasn’t so prevalent. It’s a compelling commentary on institutionalised gender inequality and how it still shapes our social lives, daily interactions, and personal relationships. That’s the conversation I wanted to have when I walked out of the theatre, and for that, RU4ME should be applauded. Book via box office on 02 8839 3399 Until 29 October