Brimming with searing humanity, the Melbourne Shakespeare Company production of The Whale elegantly naturalises the play’s inherent pathos to achieve an affecting level of emotional truth.
Branching out beyond the playwright who gives the company its name, Melbourne Shakespeare Company boldly tackles a contemporary work for their annual indoor MSC Studio season. Giving 2012 Samuel D. Hunter play The Whale its Victoria premiere, the move appears to be a canny one, drawing upon the audience recognition of the title from the 2022 film.
Living reclusively, morbidly obese Charlie occupies his days teaching English writing online. Close to death from congestive heart failure, Charlie’s visitors include young Mormon missionary Elder Thomas, friend and carer Liz, and his long estranged teenaged daughter Ellie. Motivations and connections are gradually revealed before the deeply moving finale.
Director Jennifer Sarah Dean amplifies the affect of the emotional material, having the audience face each other on two sides of the performance space. Staging the play at an intimate venue with no need of amplification, Dean has been able to focus upon unadorned naturalism, which suits the work perfectly, avoiding a spill into melodrama that could potentially accompany a heightened production.
Charlie’s apartment is part of the naturalistic setting, rendered sparingly yet realistically by set deisgner Harry Gill. Further naturalism comes from Catherine Elliott’s costume design, allowing the characters to appear all the more real. The padding and costume of Charlie may not quite look like the size of 550-600 pound man but it is large enough to effectively present him as a prisoner of his own body.
Lighting designer Kris Chainey gently denotes changes in time with partial blackouts between scenes. Sound designer Jack Burmeister neatly supports the tone of the drama with subtle background music.
In a mighty achievement, Adam Lyon immerses himself in the role of Charlie, firmly placing the character in the hearts of the audience. Charlie is initially presented as someone who may repel the audience but Lyon touchingly shows the raw pain in the man’s heart and the tender kindness in his spirit. Lyon fully captures the difficulty of Charlie’s laboured movement. He does not flinch from the discomfort of presenting a person near a death of their own making, leading to a cathartic conclusion that is all the more affecting.
Melanie Gleeson is fully grounded in reality as Charlie’s nurse and enabler Liz, completely selling the character as someone who would urge Charlie to protect his health whilst bringing him a bag of KFC.
Skye Fellman capably takes on the challenging role of Charlie’s brittly unlikeable daughter Ellie. Fellman fully commits to Ellie’s unrelenting cruelty, subtly showing small chips in her defences as Charlie pours forth with kindness.
Sebastian Li neatly captures the wide-eyed youthfulness of Elder Thomas, convincingly taking the young man to darker places as his facade crumbles.
Tanya Schneider completes the ensemble cast as Mary, a hard bitten woman who shows their are other vices than overeating.
Thought provoking and involving, The Whale cannot help but leave the audience shaken and moved.
The Whale plays at Alex Theatre, St Kilda until 14 July 2024. For tickets, click here.
Photos: Ben Andrews