Holding the Man
MTC
12 March 2008
Merlyn Theatre, CUB Malthouse
Holding the Man
has been leaving audience members in floods of tears since its first production
in 2006 by Griffin. Return seasons and new venues have let many more join in
the cathartic weeping. MTC have brought it to Melbourne.
Holding the Man is
playwright Tommy Murphy’s adaptation of Tim Conigrave’s book, published months
after Conigrave’s death in 1994. It is a tribute to the love of his partner John
Caleo, who died in 1992.
I’m of the age, occupation and social circle that this play
targets. The Grim Reaper set my attitude to safe sex, I have friends who lost
most of their friends and I sat in an AIDS ward and saw patients treated
differently. I remember the AIDS jokes. What does GAY stand for? Got AIDS yet?
(I actually feel quite icky putting that in writing.) A bloke walks into a
party where a group of his friends are shooting up. “Aren’t you worried about AIDS?”
he asks. “Don’t worry”, his mate replies, “We’re wearing condoms.”
I am horrified that people in their teens, twenties and now
thirties are complacent about safe sex. If you weren’t there in the 80s – this
play may speak volumes to you.
But don’t worry; it isn’t a safe sex agitprop piece. Holding the Man is a lovingly told
biography and ultimately a love story. The context is specific, but the emotion
and journey are universal.
The context and emotion are inseparable though. John and Tim
would have lead different lives if they hadn’t been born in 1959 and brought up
in Melbourne. They barrack for Essendon, snogged in the Menzies Building at
Monash Uni, Phoebe (the constant hag) appears as Dorothy in a shopping mall
Wizard of Oz, Supertramp rocked, pants were high and hair was big. And people
who lived in this world of hags and soft rock anthems began to get very sick
and die.
The 80s allows for a lot of comedy, but it also lets us see
a time where fear and misunderstanding dominated. When John is in remission
from his cancer, but is still very ill from AIDS, he says that the cards will
stop. He got get-well cards for
cancer, but not for AIDS.
We see one death on the stage. I did question the use of
puppets in Act 1, but this choice become clear. If you have ever seen a person
dying from a terminal disease, you know that no healthy person can look that
emaciated and that ill. A puppet replaces the actor for his last moments. This
puppet is almost unrecognizable. Grey skin tries to cover a skeleton, eyes look
huge and we hear the laboured breathing of the actor standing next to him. This
scene is stunning. Stunning in its reality, in its emotion and in its
theatricality.
If Holding the Man
were a piece of fiction, different dramatic choices would be made. I really
liked how Murphy maintained Conigrave’s voice, but perhaps his desire to
present a loving and authentic tribute may have inhibited some choices.
Dramatically, the work could benefit from more conflict, more shades of grey
and some more negative characters. Everyone was so nice. At times it felt a bit
like watching Home and Agay. I really liked the honesty in presenting the more
negative side of Tim, such as him telling his parents about his HIV the week of
his sister’s wedding. From a purely dramatic point of view, I think more of
this kind of choice and action would ultimately benefit the stage story.
I also found the presentation of the women characters quite
distracting and ultimately disturbing. Mothers, friends, hags and the token
lesbian appeared to be the clowns in the piece. There were screaming harpies
and the one sympathetic mother was played in drag. Some of the performances
were very funny, but I felt that there were too many negative, and
unbelievable, stereotypes.
At the end of the night, I wasn’t among the weeping. But whether it moves you or not, Holding the Man continues to prove how
important, and how satisfying, it is to see our own voices, places and times on
our stages. I really look forward to seeing future productions and
interpretations.
This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com
December 2012: I finally read the book.
It's lovely and honest and the women are just people. I really enjoyed it; as much as an incredibly sad read can be enjoyed. For anyone who wasn't around at the time or just didn't understand the impact HIV/AIDS, give it a read.
December 2012: I finally read the book.
It's lovely and honest and the women are just people. I really enjoyed it; as much as an incredibly sad read can be enjoyed. For anyone who wasn't around at the time or just didn't understand the impact HIV/AIDS, give it a read.
