Scanning the foyer of the North Melbourne Art House after watching a performance of Holiday there are scores of audience members looking as if they had taken a trip themselves.
In an era that is distinguished by busy agendas it was a real treat to see so many visitors chatting over a drink, reflecting on a couple of successful performances and generally sharing a few idle moments together.
Hoilday is a charming piece of theatre. Produced by the Ranter Theatre co-op it is a contemporary baroque musical about relaxation that brings up some interesting questions for a society that is unable to take its foot off the accelerator.
It seems that down time is a complicated subject for people these days. In an economic culture of success, of making things happen 24-7, of keeping a diary full of appointments, seeking leisure for itself is not an easy goal out there.
The idea of leisure as a topic for the stage is what writer Raimondo Cortese so wonderfully realises in this meaningful look at the lives of two blokes taking time out.
Cortese is a wonderful writer and the level of success of this project was proven by the size and responsivness of the theatre goers who took a deep refreshing breath at the atmosphere of the absurd established by actors Paul Lum and Partick Moffatt. When taken by the mood they did the odd baroque sing song.
A remarkable set designed by director brother Adriano Cortese put on centre stage a wading pool that pulled the eye towards it as real pools pull people towards them for fun.
A pool is the traditional status symbol for middle class relaxation; of earned leisure.
It's the middle class of any society who are most awkward in persuit of real leisure as they are always desperate to make their lives meaningful by toil rather than putting their feet up.
For Cortese, the middle class context is a grand setting of drifing and dreaming for his characters.
The pool of water is a reference for lazy days as the actors take their time gazing into the mid distance, reclining on a chaise lounge and languidly slipping into the depths of their own thoughts that makes for a string of ephemeral reflections that as you might guess are often profound.
In such depths of themselves we see that there is an extreme of ideas, of experiences, of awareness, and these themes take the place of action on stage.
The light heartedness of a trip away, of doing nothing and expressing ideas freely took a sudden turn when truth entered the stream of Lum and Moffatt's relationship.
Are you awake or dreaming? Is what one actor insighfully inquires after a particularly laissez faire exchange of words. Of course the question is not posed to be answered and the dialog drifts along as a ship sails across the back of the set, birds fade in and out of the elegant soundscape and the actors coast on until the light dims on this carefree flight from the daily grind.
Holiday closed at the North Melbourne Art House on August 22.
