TELL ME I'M BEAUTIFUL
Reviewed by Craig Martin
Writer and director: Allan Kerr
In his work Because, Australian poet James McCauley describes marriage as being "all closed in the same defeat". This description is not far off writer/director Allan Kerr’s exploration of a loveless marriage, in his poignant comedy-drama Tell Me I’m Beautiful.
Told with equal amounts of compassion and cynicism, the play explores the attitudes of men and women who remain in relationships that have passed their use-by date.
Praise must go to Justin Bechtold and Kate Buttery, who play David and Marissa Lonergan. Their portrayal of a couple in crisis is deeply moving and consistently truthful. Some of their animated arguments are the type of vitriolic humdingers you’d never want to have.
Marissa’s brother, Pasquale (James Liotta) provides many of the lighter moments in the show. His effortless comedic delivery is reminiscent of Nick Giannopolis, although more contained. A highlight involves Pasquale and his love interest, Pasqualina (Nicole Blyth), recounting their different versions of how they first met. It’s a wonderfully entertaining moment.
A subplot involving a small supporting cast is the source of some weaker moments in the play. No doubt included to highlight the differences between David and Marissa, these extraneous scenes play on gross stereotypes and offer little in terms of character development.
Despite some excellent performances, the supporting cast’s efforts are uneven and the show appears slightly under-rehearsed.
And though well used, the performance space is not particularly conducive to this play. The frequency of entries, exits and prolonged blackouts during scene changes detracts from the performances.
Despite these criticisms, the script has been well developed and is riotously funny at times. I look forward to seeing what another director might do with it in a different space. Though writer/directors Kerr’s directorial competence is evident, another director might afford the actors room to explore characters in ways beyond the writer’s intention.
Despondent, McAuley abandons his poem to conclude that marriage is a "central deadness: the despair older than any hope I ever knew". Ending with a similar sense of foreboding and hopelessness, Tell Me I’m Beautiful is an important Australian play that provides a bitter perspective on the institution of marriage in our times.