Life, death, art, and the search for purpose twist together in Jordan Harrison’s compelling tragic comedy The Amateurs, directed by Susan O’Toole Cridland and superbly performed at Ad Astra.
Written by American playwright Jordan Harrison, The Amateurs premiered off-Broadway in 2018 and made its Australian debut at Melbourne’s Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre last year. The play follows an itinerant group of amateur actors as they try to outrun the Black Death and win the favour of a Duke, hoping to find refuge behind his walls as the plague spreads.
The first Act of the play follows the actors through their rehearsals and travels across Italy in the fourteenth century. Performing on the back of their wagon as they travel from town to town, the players’ main fare is morality plays, a popular genre from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries that presented allegorical stories, teaching values that were usually grounded in Christian faith. Several scenes where the characters prayed individually offered insight into their fears, hopes, desires, and secrets.
When the audience meets them, they are rehearsing a morality play about the seven deadly sins, and a retelling of the Biblical tale of Noah’s Ark. Troupe leader Larking (Matthew Filkins) has perhaps played God for too long, and it has given him a superiority complex. His ego is stroked by self-assured Rona (Lia Davies), who uses sex to acquire power as well as pleasure, but is terrified by an unwanted pregnancy. Gregory (Greg Scurr) is talented at creating props and special effects, but Larking won’t give him a chance on the stage.
As the players act out biblical devastation, people drop dead around them – the Black Death is spreading, and they have already had to leave fellow actor Henry unburied along the way. Henry’s sister Hollis (Maddie Armit) is filled with doubts, while his lover Brom (Max Phythian) grieves in secret. After Henry’s death, a mysterious man comes to them in the middle of the night; despite Hollis’ suspicions, The Physic (Isaiah Harrison) is allowed to stay, and replaces Henry in the troupe’s performances.
Act 2 of The Amateurs made a sudden shift when the audience encountered the Playwright himself – doubled by the actor who played Gregory (Scurr). Harrison speaks directly about his own artistic impulses and the source of the play, discussing his inspiration and his experiences growing up as a young gay man during the HIV/AIDS crisis. After posing existential questions to the actors and the audience, the Playwright recedes behind the fourth wall and attention returns to the players in Italy as they seek to impress the Duke and win his favour and protection.
Through the dual worlds of the play – the Playwright in the modern day, and the actors in the fourteenth century – The Amateurs delves into the social value of art and the people who make it. “Confronted by crisis,” the Playwright asks the audience, “what is the artistic impulse?”. The Amateurs also addresses superstition and the supernatural, in contrast to Christian faith, as its characters face mortality, suffering, and suppression in myriad ways.
The fourth wall is nebulous in The Amateurs – it is a play, within a play, within a play. Although it was written years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Harrison’s play about the Black Death naturally strikes a different chord in 2023. The modern plague that Harrison draws comparisons to is HIV/AIDS, and the homophobic fearmongering that surrounded this epidemic. The persecution of Jewish people who were blamed for the Black Death also parallels the disturbing rise in anti-Chinese and anti-Asian violence and prejudice during COVID.
For a play dealing in such dark subject matter, there is also a consistent thread of comedy and dry wit running through it, from the characters’ snarky interactions to their overwrought performances as the players. The Amateurs walks a fine line between comedy and tragedy and the actors balance both admirably.
The cast delivered excellent comic and tragic performances, with Matthew Filkins as Larking, Lia Davies as Rona, and Greg Scurr as Gregory and the Playwright being especially notable. All of the actors drew a richness and complexity from their characters, as well as playing a version of themselves to interact with the Playwright.
Costumes designed by Julie Cox included rough edges, consistent with the troupe’s amateur standing, for the fourteenth century and created clear contrasts with the present-day clothing, including the detail of the Playwright’s ramen-stained “Brooklyn uniform”.
Lighting and sound designed by Russell Jensen subtly supported the onstage action, and incorporated covers of modern songs into scene transitions that fit the play’s themes. Set design by Kim Phillips, Tim Cridland, Dan Kennedy featured several intriguing elements, such as the supposed nail from the True Cross and a revolving contraption that showed the painted animals of Noah’s Ark, as well as a range of props that added to the play’s comedy.
Ad Astra finish the year on a high note with The Amateurs, a wide-reaching, deep-diving, and thought-provoking tragic comedy that made me laugh, cry, and think.
The Amateurs will be performed at Ad Astra from 16 November – 9 December 2023.
For ticketing and further information, visit the Ad Astra website
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