A Moment on the Lips – Mad March Hare Theatre Company

Overview

Seven women, a dinner party and a bunch of relationships crying out for serious re-examination provide the dramatic drive behind Jonathan Gavin’s A Moment on the Lips. Having debuted on the Old Fitz stage 11 years ago, the play is now revisiting home territory via the Mad March Hare Theatre Company.

Through one short scene after another, the lives of seven protagonists unravel. There’s Anne (Ainslie McGlynn), self-declared ‘home resource manager’ facing the challenges of first-time motherhood; Emma (Claudia Barrie), appearance-obsessed newsreader; Dominique (Sonya Kerr), possessor of prophetic powers; and two sets of sisters. The first is comprised of creatively frustrated, failing artist Victoria (Beth Aubrey) and PhD student Jenny (Sarah Aubrey — the Aubreys are sisters for real); the second of emotionally detached yet successful barrister Rowena (Lucy Goleby) and adopted Samoan sibling Bridget (Sabryna T’eo), who cares for dying patients.

What’s more, Jenny is married to Rowena, for whom Emma still carries a flame. And pretty much every relationship — be it platonic, romantic or biological — is fraught with regret, dishonesty and confusion. A Moment on the Lips begs us to contemplate our values and consider the big impact of 'little things'.

It’s a mountain of material to get through in just one play. Gavin ambitiously attempts to address every character’s strengths and weaknesses, but it’s a tough call, and, too often, lapses into one-dimensionality. It also means some rather uneven scriptwriting. Several clever one-liners elicit genuine laugh-out-loud moments, but there’s also an indigestible reliance on cliche. Occasionally it's used ironically with more punch.

McGlynn delivers the standout performance as the struggling Anne — charismatic, sassy and funny. The other roles prove difficult to fill out, given their lack of meatiness, but director Mackenzie Steele does pull off a fast-paced, snappy show, accentuating eccentricities and dynamics where he can.

Charlie Davis has come up with a beige, orderly set with bookshelves offering titles like The Way We Live that could easily pass for a trendy Bondi apartment and cleverly references the characters’ materialism and tendency to obsess over first-world problems. Costume designer Isabella Andronos delivers striking contrasts with bold, bright colours.

A Moment on the Lips is an entertaining night out, but, ultimately, proves more simplistic than probing.

Image by Katy Green Loughrey.