Review: Endings And Understanding Are Explored In Sarah Hamilton's THE SPLIT.

Thursday 5th December 2019, 8pm, Old 505

Charley Sanders (Directors) brings Sarah Hamilton's (Playwrite) new Australian play, THE SPLIT, to the Sydney stage with quiet sensitivity. Providing a window into the challenging world of the end of a relationship, this intimate two hander is subtle and honest.

The premise of THE SPLIT is that Jules (Amy Victoria Brooks) and Tom (Max Garcia-Underwood) are on one last trip as they say goodbye to their old life and their past relationship. It seems a strange thing to do when there is never, at any point, any though of reconciliation, particularly given they escape from the world on a small borrowed fishing boat. Pussy footing around the real questions and going on with a polite civility and reliving the past, the hurt that both are harboring eventually becomes evident.

The couple are first seen surrounded by an arc of items that mark out the edge of the boat deck. While Jules sketches, Tom plays guitar, layered over a soundtrack, all composed by Garcia-Underwood. As with other House of Sand works the white wall of the Old 505 stage is utilized as a backdrop for projections, in this case setting the opening scene and later the water, which stretches across the stage, that surrounds the boat. There is nothing flashy or complex about the staging of this work, keeping the focus on the performers.

Hamilton's text is realistic whilst also expressing that the pair are quirky and both Brooks and Garcia-Underwood ensure that Jules and Tom have a wonderfully natural expression. Their facial expressions, particularly their eyes hold the truth of their character's feelings with Brooks in particular expressing Jules' distress, pain and grief when she realizes that this really is the end of the relationship when Tom no longer cares to share what she is experiencing. They move within the space of the boat's deck well even when not physically bounded by the originating items and the expression of swimming is amusingly presented. Garcia-Underwood gives Tom a somewhat naïve immaturity as he's still discovering who he is. Brooks yet again proves she shines when in the serious dramatic roles and the role of Jules feels like it is written for her as she easily inhabits the character.

The work, which has relatively few bold moments, has a high degree of stillness and quiet, from staring games to quiet contemplation. The weight of the work sits in the contemplative whilst frivolous re-creation of childish fun from younger days are the 'loud' interludes and distractions from the purpose of the excursion to find closure with rare expression of part of why the two are no longer suited. The work however feels as if it could do with tightening, removing some of the long repetitive sequences as whilst Sanders knows how to allow silence and stillness to give time for the gravity of the situation settle with the audience, there are times when the sense of days at sea is labored and gradually has the unlikely to be intended result of wishing to drift away and nap on a boat deck.

A relatively quiet contemplation in the midst of a chaotic world, THE SPLIT shows a different side to relationship breakdowns and reinforces that no matter how much people try to hide their feelings, they bubble beneath the surface.

https://old505theatre.com/shows/the-split-1542601415.html