Honour

Overview

Honor (Wendy Hughes) and George (William Zappa) have been married for 32 years. Honor, an accomplished (and published) poet when they met, gave up her career to support George’s ascent into journalistic glory and to raise their daughter, Sophie (Yael Stone). When Claudia, an attractive, 28-year-old journalist and would-be novelist (Paula Arundell), is commissioned to write a profile on George, Honor and Sophie find themselves at the mercy of George’s mid-life crisis; he up and leaves his wife for hot sex and creepy-replacement-father-like adoration from Claudia. Honor, although devastated, finds truth in the lie that became her life and resumes her career as a poet (apparently all the more able because of her hardship).

Joanna Murray-Smith’s Honour is either an expose on the brutal inevitability of middle-class, heterosexual womanhood or a series of cleverly written cliches (that elicit in young, middle-class, heterosexual women a mortal fear of their inevitable future). The Sydney Theatre Company’s production sits in this ambiguity, being neither highly stylised nor wholly naturalistic, leaving me slightly confused as to Lee Lewis’s directorial intent. Is this real-life in the theatre or dramatic cliche?

This ambiguity is apparent in the lack of continuity between the performances. In the opening scenes Arundell’s Claudia seems painfully over- or under-rehearsed, dialogue and character appear rote learnt. As the production progresses, however, it becomes clear that she has perfectly and stylistically drawn Claudia into the narcissistic, man-loathing (come on, we’re not fooled, it’s Honor she’s really after) careerist that she is. Her staccato performance is then, perhaps, purposeful. The actor stands outside of her role in order to best highlight the contrivances of the character; this is not a real person but a caricature of one. I’m convinced this approach could work, however, the other performances are too steeped in naturalism (at times brilliantly so — Yael Stone has some lovely moments) for it to work here. Both Hughes and Zappa are solid as Honor and George.

Michael Scott-Mitchell’s wooden set is beautiful (likewise the costuming from Alice Babidge, lighting from Damien Cooper and sound design from Paul Charlier), and Lewis’s staging around it bespeaks the interconnected intimacy of the tragedy/triumph of the situation. Honour has all the slickness everyone expects from the Sydney Theatre Company.

In the end Honor is rewarded for her wifely service, Claudia is punished for her self-serving seductiveness, Sophie — too pampered to know true heartache (and thus creativity) — is destined to remain a disappointment to her father and George remains just another sorry old man. Murray-Smith has no doubt observed her characters in life many times (who hasn’t these days?) and her play, and this performance of it, is funny and evocative. While she is never cruel, her sharp tongue and quick wit cloud her compassion and I, for one, remain more hopeful about human relationships. But maybe I am just naive. See it and make up your own mind.

Tickets are $30 if you are under 30.