The State is a political comedy centred on our protagonist ‘Flung About’ and his journey through a dystopian kafkaesque version of Australia in the midst of authoritarian take over by a group of masochistic Daddies standing in for the different state premiers while being dominated by an overarching Mummy figure. Flung interacts with the myriad aspects of the world, hard labour jobs, healthcare workers, land owners, the aristocratic class, and even a Daddy. Through this we are taken on a journey of political discourse, outrage, disinformation, and political tampering in democracy.
The design elements of The State are up there with some of the best I have ever seen, Leisl Lucerne-Knight delivers outstanding hit after hit with beautifully designed and crafted puppets and costumes in conjunction with amazing designer Rosalie Schneider. Ranging in characteristics from the lowly hospital receptionist to the domineering Mummy, the puppets are truly outstanding. I will be sure to watch out for anything Leisl and Rosalie work on just to make sure I get the glimpses of the terrific craft they excel in. Massive props to the ensemble of the design team, Nat Mijat’s lighting design heightens the intensity of the puppets and lets the literal gems shine, Lara Pollard’s sound design adds an ominous tone to the Mummy and makes you feel for the nihilistic machinery.
This ensemble of actors really make this show, they deliver outstanding performances that are just a joy to watch. Scene after scene they breathe life into the characters and enhance the world we are watching. Special highlights for all the cabinet scenes where Lucy Wong, Mazey O’Reilly, Jo Cooper, and Rhi Bryan all depict the state premiers (Daddy’s) usually interrupted by the sadistic Mummy whipping the characters into shape. They each perfectly hit the aspects of their characters and bring out the unique quirks of each of them, and Bronte Frances striding in as a strong dominating presence is genuinely creepy. Even as their little side characters in each scene, the actors are so full of life, humour, and amazing character work.
The State. Photography by Emmason Tucker
The State is a bit of a mammoth for Blue Room standards, clocking in at about 140 mins including interval. I am a firm believer of efficient and effective story telling, I think The State fell short of this. There was scene after scene of repetitive interactions and jokes, the jumping between the political class and the everyday workers made it difficult to keep track of the multitude of characters and plot threads. Multiple side narratives end up having no bearing on the central plot line and detract from our understanding of the world. In a similar vein to The Late Great Andrew Tate, which this show shared a number of creatives, it perplexed me as to why they chose to have a woman as the main antagonist, while I agree conservative and authoritarian infiltration is genderless it seems misguided to have the shadowy dictator as a feminine dominating presence in world where politics are still intensely dominated by men.
Part way through the show Flung engages with the ‘Common Dog Fucks’ (CDF), a vaguely leftist revolutionary group. Riffing on student organisations like Socialist Alliance, there is a large highlight on the criticism that their focus on flyering is useless, this flips into support after the CDF occupies a hospital to treat the sick and wounded. This seems to ignore how much effort it takes to actually build a movement, that occupation, rebellion, and protest don’t just spring into existence, it takes the dirty work of flyering and sometimes pointless meetings to build rebellion. This demonstrates the fundamental fault I find with The State, that it criticises and demeans a lot of the working class while offering very little in terms of meaningful actions or solutions.
The State has some of the best production design and performances I have seen in independent theatre. I have seen really tremendous work from each of the lead creatives before and it is clear the intense passion they feel on certain topics but I believe the key to action in a society you disagree with is focused advocacy and activism, both of which, The State lacks.
The State is on at The Blue Room Theatre until Saturday the 25th of May