The Questions is a gorgeous and joyful piece of new Australian musical theatre
- Written by Catherine Campbell, Lecturer, Performing Arts, UniSA Creative, University of South Australia
A blind dinner date in a small high-rise apartment between a blandly dressed neat-freak with a professed admiration for alt-right male online celebs, and a colourful gender studies grad with a strong sense of social justice is falling apart.
It is about to be over – when an unnamed emergency causes the building and city to go into lockdown.
We follow the hilarious consequences of these two political polar-opposites being thrust together, with surprising outcomes.
The Questions is a gorgeous and joyful piece of new Australian musical theatre. Van Badham (book and lyrics) and long-term collaborator Richard Wise (music and lyrics) have created a stunning two-hander about an ultimate first-date disaster and finding connection despite differences.
Nestled amid the many hilarious moments in the rom-com musical are profound questions about what is really needed for two seemingly opposite people to really connect.
A beautiful construction
As “Visitor” and “Resident”, Chaya Ocampo and Charles Wu are a delight. They are adorable and mesmerising as the ill-met-by-lockdown odd couple. Their voices are stunning, and their playful and feisty engagement is electric.
They build the relationship between the two mismatched Gen Xers with an unwavering sense of playful connection: their development of the gradual intimacy and resulting fights and flare-ups is wonderful to observe.
The band is located onstage in an adjoining apartment. As the neighbours/house-and-band-mates, musicians Sam Lau (keys, guitar), James Bannah junior (keys) and Jackson Mack (drums) are just fabulous. Their playing and backing vocals are sharp, lively and well woven through the play.
Badham and Wise’s lyrics are delicious and devilishly clever with clever rhymes and quirky metaphors. They have a razor-sharp sense of the pulse of pop culture, and the songs and dialogue revel in those moments. The sudden moments of intimacy and of conflict are a joy.
Badham’s book is beautifully constructed with hilarious twists and starkly honest observations about the reality of dating when someone else is doing the matching – whether friend, app or random noodle server.
There are moments of recognition of the world of dating in an online world; sparks and sparring; the awkward and euphoric.
Navigated with energy and ease
The musical takes its title from the “36 questions to fall in love” developed by psychologist Arthur Aron in 1997. The device of the questions is used sparingly, the spotlight given to examining the developing relationship between the Resident and the Visitor.
Wise’s music effortlessly conveys the exciting-but-nervous first-date energy, pressure-cooker arguments and vulnerable, deep truth moments of love.
Wu’s solos have moments of breath-taking lyricism. His excellent voice and phrasing give nuance and depth to each moment.
Wu’s excellent voice and phrasing give nuance and depth to the moment.
Claude Raschella/State Theatre Company South Australia
Ocampo’s voice changes effortlessly from overexcited patter to reflective to no-holds-barred excitement or anger. Everything she sings is right in the middle of the note and sparkles with clarity and intention. They both navigate the often complex vocal lines with ease.
Mitchell Butel directs with wit and verve. His sense of the joy and fun of this piece is evident. His skill at conveying the sense of energies exploding in the contained space, while also giving the characters room to expand and steer their storytelling, is masterful.
The set by Jeremy Allen is a wonderful realisation of the world of Nordic-inspired neutrals, the interior of tiny, densely packed modern apartments repeated ad-infinitum. The slightly cartoonish style of the high-rises in the background (complete with lighted windows) evokes manga and keeps us located in the world of musical comedy.
The band’s room is a tiny glass box encroaching on the living room space of the Resident’s apartment.
Claude Raschella/State Theatre Company South Australia
The band’s room is a tiny glass box encroaching on the living room space of the Resident’s apartment. Clever use of micro venetians as actual room blinds screens the band from the action. The proximity of the neighbours and their observation of everything that happens in the fishbowl apartment next door is used to wonderful comic effect by the actors.
Gavin Norris’ lighting creates beautiful moments, isolating the actors during a solo, or abruptly changing the mood during a tense moment. The lighting gives the neutral tones of the set depth and colour, reflecting the changing moods of the characters and their inner emotions.
State Theatre Company South Australia has nurtured and developed this premiere piece with such care and joy. I left the theatre completely elated and my heart was full of beautifully made music and lyrics. I wanted to go back in and see it all again.
The Questions is at the State Theatre Company of South Australia until August 17.
Authors: Catherine Campbell, Lecturer, Performing Arts, UniSA Creative, University of South Australia
