BWW Reviews: JUMPY Is A Layered Comedy That Looks Below the Middle Age, Middle Class Manners

Saturday 28 March 2015, Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

Sydney Theatre Company hosts Melbourne Theatre Company's production of April De Angelis' JUMPY which blends comedy with the challenges of getting older as 50 year old Hilary deals with family, friendships and feminism.

At first look, Michael Hankin's set is a shallow blonde wood box, reducing the space of the Drama Theatre stage, with timber paneling on all sides, opening to a partly open ceiling allowing light in, reminiscent of the minimalist aesthetic. To the left of centre stage, a single monkey toy sits on the bare stage in a spotlight.

As middle aged mother from East London, Hilary (Jane Turner), 15 year old daughter Tilly (Brenna Harding) and father Mark (David Tredinnick) are introduced the simple set comes to life. The panels move to allow movement of characters through what we learn is a middle class family home as parts of rooms roll across the stage as required, bringing in other characters. The rear panels move to form doorways and the positioning of railings to a second level in the hallway indicates the location in the house of the current room.

Whilst the first half of the show first seems like an amusing but fairly shallow look at a middle class woman's life, from dealing with a distant teenage daughter, job insecurity, a mundane marriage and a hypersexual single best friend, Frances (Marina Prior), the story becomes more complex as Tilly discovers boys and the look into the future that Tilly's pregnant best friend Lyndsey (Tariro Mavondo) provides does nothing to settle the worried mother. This brings in other characters that weave their way into Hilary's life as she meets Tilly's boyfriend Josh's(Laurence Boxhall) parents, the hard, uncaring, corporate banker Bea (Caroline Brazier) and her actor husband Roland (John Lloyd Fillingham) that are going through their own challenges.

Jumpy, the title of which doesn't become apparent till the end of the story, is filled with laughs as relatable events, emotions and responses unfold, whether from personal experience or the ability to see parallels with people you know. This is predominantly Hilary's story as she tries to be the caring mother guiding her daughter through her teens but not really knowing how to connect to a teen that wants to go out partying and is more concerned with her outfits than her exams, the supportive wife trying to reconnect with her husband as the worry about finances and the future, a best friend and sister to an energetic actress and supportive friend to a new friend that wants more. Hilary's need to maintain a polite middle class nicety about her life and her behavior adds to the humor as she tries to keep everyone happy, even dealing with the awful Bea, whose callousness most other people would have lost patience with long ago. Hilary's relationships draw her to examine her own dreams as she realizes that her life and the world around her is changing and the things she believed and fought for may not be as important to others.

As Hilary reminisces on student days protesting against the US Airforce at Greenham Common with Frances she questions the values her daughter has adopted and whether she has failed to pass on the baton of feminism to a child where "the only thing she applies with any diligence is eyeliner" even if, as Frances reminds her, they only participated in a minimal level, as they were students as the fight was reaching its peak. As Roland flirts with Hilary, as an escape from a bitter marriage, Hilary evaluates her own marriage and a dalliance with a younger Cam (Dylan Watson) helps set her mind to what she believes is right, wrong, and 'proper'.

Turner's comic background is evident in her timing and her delivery, and her reaction to the moving set mirrors Hilary's challenge to look poised whilst stumbling through life as she deals with new situations, feelings and emotions. Harding presents a very stereotypical teen, more interested in her phone, Facebook and friends than her future. Fillingham, as the needy friend that falls for Hilary as the polar opposite to his wife Bea delivers some fabulous long winded whines about his life as the sad pathetic man pining over someone he doesn't love, someone he thinks he loves, and the son he wants to regain a relationship with. Prior steps out of the prim impression that many have of her and flexes her comedic muscles as she embraces the man hungry and sexually empowered Frances as she tries to hit on Roland and shares her ideas on a new venture into Burlesque. Mavondo creates a seemingly dimwitted friend but her optimism as she looks forward to a life as a single mother is sweet as she states that she would get depressed and upset at life, but she has her son, and cannot afford to let that happen, and approaches everything with a smile.

Whilst the story could be set anywhere, with a few variations to adjust the reference to British events and locations, the cast maintains the English accents well, better than most performances manage when they try for American accents. The retention of the English location also ensures that the audience separates the actors from the previous well known characters and personas whether it bet Turner's trashy TV whine or Prior's straight-laced musical theatre princess.

This is an amusing work that allows people to have an enjoyable night out but also delve deeper into thought on life, growing older, growing wiser, and all the humor and hilarity that entails. Whilst potentially pitched at the age range of adults with teenage children (or who have had teenage children), or adults with friends with teenage children, younger audiences will also be entertained as they see parts of their parents, friends, aunts, uncles etc in the characters and may also look back at their own interactions with their parents and see similarities.

Photos: Brett Boardman

JUMPY

Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

26 March - 16 May 2015

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