The Motherf**ker With The Hat – Workhorse Theatre Company
Workhorse Theatre Company’s latest offering is a stellar independent achievement and a real asset to Sydney’s theatre scene.
The Motherf**ker With the Hat is not a safe choice for a theatre company to make, but Workhorse stand by their mission statement of producing “affordable, modern, cutting edge works.” A brand-new play by Sydney’s standards – it premiered on Broadway in 2011 – and written by Stephen Adly Guirgis, it’s a high-pressure, high-stakes kind of show that refuses to pull a single punch. In Sydney, we’re lucky to have a talented and fearless group of performers to stage this show; they take the stage like they have nothing to lose and it works.
Workhorse also make the intimate (tiny!) space of the TAP gallery work for the show. A confronting story about an addict out of jail and in recovery who is trying to make an honest sober living in a deeply dishonest and addicted world, there is no escape from either the laughs or the make-you-squirm moments. When our protagonist Jackie discovers the eponymous hat on his girlfriend Veronica’s table, there is no escaping the onslaught that follows (and watching Troy Harrison’s face cycle from general merriment and satisfaction through uncertainity, suspicion and anger into barely contained simmering rage is a real treat). The sets are all appropriately down-trodded, unadorned, worn at the ages, and immediately with a boombox in a window and a futon we are presented with the world of the play. This is set design at its most effective and its clear designer Dylan James Tonkin knows the space and the company’s limits well; his work shines.
When the show premiered in New York, it was Chris Rock’s Broadway debut. The problem with Rock seemed to be that he couldn’t hold his own against stage veteran and hefty talent Bobby Cannavale. Here, Ralph is played by John Atkinson, who isn’t Rock-like in his attitude at all but perfectly realized, competent at life in general, sincere, the slightly-dorky guy using the speech of the cool kids to connect with sponsee Jackie, but as the play dives deeper into its own perpetuating cycle of class and personality, Ralph’s sinister presence grows, creeps underneath the seats at the Gallery.
As Veronica, Zoe Trilsbach is tough as nails with intuitive comic beats and a comparative skill for selling the dramatic. Nigel Turner-Carroll is Julio, Jackie’s accented cousin, a broadly drawn comic character who executes a swift 180 into an emotional touchstone in the latter half of the play. Megan O’Connell, as Ralph’s wife Victoria, is a subtler performer for a subtler character, proving just how well cast this production is.
To the ensemble’s credit too, not one accent (New Yorker, Puerto Rican) slips, and after the first few minutes of settling in they don’t feel at all contrived or created. It’s well done work by dialect coach Jonathan Mill. It’s difficult to stress enough how committed these actors are to their parts and the truth of the play, and it’s difficult to stress just how rewarding that is an audience member.
On opening night, the play was credit with laughter that was often wild, and applause that erupted after a particularly pleasing scene – and was warm and appreciate at the end, a thank you to Workhorse for this show.
For such a rough play, it’s an unexpected palate-cleanser, but it’s so needed. Support good independent theatre in Sydney, support Workhorse, and see The Motherf**ker with the Hat.
