The Woman In His Mind

The Woman In His Mind is a new Australian play written by Christine Lambrianidis which depicts the broken relationship between a divorced couple as they struggle to resolve their issues of sexual and cultural identity


Presented by:  MelBorn 2011 season for Melbourne Writers’ Theatre (MWT)Venue:  La Mama Courthouse, Carlton
Friday 20 October, 2011
The Woman In His Mind is a new Australian play written by Christine Lambrianidis which depicts the broken relationship between a divorced couple as they struggle to resolve their issues of sexual and cultural identity. 
This Opening Night show did not get off to a particularly positive start with the somewhat disorganised ushering of the audience via two separate doors into the theatre. Once inside and following a bleak walk down a darkened curtained corridor, the audience were then forced to sit cramped together with no adequate air-conditioning or ventilation.  
On top of this, the show was rudely interrupted by a late-comer who noisily made her way down one side of the theatre only to be re-directed down the other corridor entrance. The actors are to be commended for maintaining their professionalism throughout this chaotic ordeal which could have been avoided if the ushers enforced the lockout policy.        
From the outset it was clear this production is in its infancy and is in need of further re-working. While Lambrianidis made a valiant effort to entwine the issues of the relationship between the couple and the impact their Greek heritage had on their identities and roles within a marriage, the play was confusing and one wondered whether it was a pre-requisite to be Greek to understand much of what was going on.  
Directed by Mark Pritchard, it was difficult to determine whether his choice of staging was deliberate or simply due to the confines of the space.  The audience were seated opposite each other looking down on the set below.  Unfortunately for most of the play, the actors were in side profile and at times it felt like we were watching a tennis match as they moved from one end of the stage to the other.  More often than not, I found myself observing the other half of the audience opposite me, instead of focusing on the action on stage.  
While Pritchard was successful in creating the intimacy of the couple’s relationship, the music throughout the production was intrusive and at one point I was almost forced out of frustration to get up and turn the CD player off myself.  
Kate Gregory gave a solid performance in her depiction of the angry and frustrated Katharina. James Deeth, who played John, was superb, bringing a multitude of layers to his performance that was both shocking and heart-wrenching.  
It is acknowledged in the program that this project is a seed and while there are some problems in the script, with further re-writes and workshopping of this play, Lambrianidis’ vision may soon be realised.  
The Woman In His Mind runs until Sunday 30th October 2011.
La Mama Courthouse349 Drummond Street, Carlton, Melbourne
For further details and tickets visit www.trybooking.com/WRS or woman_in_his_mind@y7mail.com