Daniel Vigilante
Sandra 1
Michael ItaliaTheatre: Hotel Obsino
LaMama Theatre, Carlton
Sept 2007
The establishment known as Hotham Hotel may not ring too many bells, but if I told you the building above the 7-11 on the corner of Flinders and Spencer streets that is now a backpackers, you might get a better picture of the dinginess of where writer and director, Adam Broinowsky, bases his play. And the name ‘Obsino’ I imagine alludes to what, after seeing the play, I can safely assume must be: Hotel Obsceno.
And it certainly is an obscene world that gets presented. While admitting an interest in the “history impregnated in the walls of architecture”, Broinowsky also draws on psychosis, homelessness, hopelessness, and drug abuse to enliven in his characters; throw in some deranged and fetish sex, and the deluded confidence of underachievers, and you pretty much cover all grounds of what may be called ‘low-life’.
The play is portrayed in vignette-like scenes, without so much as a plot or coherent narrative, rather focusing on the interaction of the bizarre but sadly very real characters.
Brendan Bacon’s Gold character is a cringe-worthy creep; a slimy nose-twitching junkie brought to life superbly; and Dave, the cross-dressing Neo-Nazi, played by Dylan Lloyd, is the other standout in a play littered with probably too many underdeveloped characters. Tom Davies as the ‘protagonist’, Noah, doesn’t have much room to move besides stunned expressions and gauche posturing, though we do sympathise with his awkwardness, and Miss Jones (Melanie Douglas) is practically a cameo appearance of about 2 minutes.
The lighting and mood is spot on, as the contrasts of Doug’s (Craig Hedger) lonely corner lunacy and the candlelit darkness of the ‘shooting-up’ scene evoke the bleakness that both activities exude.
While the play was certainly enjoyable and provocative all the way through, a few minor writing glitches for me took away some of its deserved esteem and well-rounded originality. But it’s good to see a side of Melbourne come to life that otherwise doesn’t have much to be admired.
Sept 2007
The establishment known as Hotham Hotel may not ring too many bells, but if I told you the building above the 7-11 on the corner of Flinders and Spencer streets that is now a backpackers, you might get a better picture of the dinginess of where writer and director, Adam Broinowsky, bases his play. And the name ‘Obsino’ I imagine alludes to what, after seeing the play, I can safely assume must be: Hotel Obsceno.
The play is portrayed in vignette-like scenes, without so much as a plot or coherent narrative, rather focusing on the interaction of the bizarre but sadly very real characters.
Brendan Bacon’s Gold character is a cringe-worthy creep; a slimy nose-twitching junkie brought to life superbly; and Dave, the cross-dressing Neo-Nazi, played by Dylan Lloyd, is the other standout in a play littered with probably too many underdeveloped characters. Tom Davies as the ‘protagonist’, Noah, doesn’t have much room to move besides stunned expressions and gauche posturing, though we do sympathise with his awkwardness, and Miss Jones (Melanie Douglas) is practically a cameo appearance of about 2 minutes.
While the play was certainly enjoyable and provocative all the way through, a few minor writing glitches for me took away some of its deserved esteem and well-rounded originality. But it’s good to see a side of Melbourne come to life that otherwise doesn’t have much to be admired.
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