Es & Flo: Naturalism gifts us a beautiful tale not often seen on Australian stages
Type – Mardi Gras, Naturalism
If you liked – Mary Jane (Old Fitz Theatre), Blessed Union (Belvoir St)
Jennifer Lunn’s acclaimed play Es & Flo traces a queer love story that we don’t often see on stages, that of a relationship between two older women. It is one that is born in protest and solidified by years of devotion and care.
Directed by Emma Canalese, Es & Flo traces the notions of memory and autonomy as Esmee (Annie Byron) suffers from the slowly debilitating effects of dementia while her partner Flo (Fay Du Chateau) fights for her place in their changing relationship. Aided by Polish care worker Beata (Charlotte Salusinszky) and her daughter Kasia (Georgina Warren-Nwokolo), Flo races against the disease crippling her partner as well as Esmee’s estranged son Peter and his partner Catherine’s (Eloise Snape) attempts to take control of Esmee’s life.
There’s a beautiful simplicity to Lunn’s words, with this truly slice of life production focusing on troubles that are real and, at times, quite visceral in their performance. It’s not without its biting humour however, with Catherine’s imposing nature threatening to take away a relationship she knows nothing about. She is almost a puppet of her husband who is never seen, as absent as he is from his mother’s life as he is from the stage. It’s a clever and subtle comment on the imposing nature of patriarchy in aspects of domesticity.
There is a battle-weariness to Chateau’s Flo. She is worn down by love, but also by the shame that Es harbours towards their relationship which she’s never publicly disclosed to her estranged family. Byron’s Es is remarkably endearing as a woman who struggles to acknowledge the effects of the dementia gripping her mind, as she brings a strong sense of realism to the physical effects on stage.
Snape’s ignorance imbued in Catherine’s frustration is contrasted well with the acceptance of youth in Warren-Nwokolo, who sees Es and Flo for who they truly are to each other. Whilst Catherine repeatedly uses the term “friends” to describe the pair, Kasia acknowledges their love immediately, without so much as batting an eye. It’s a symbol of ignorance built by the world, and one that is still immune to its infectious prejudices.
Is Es & Flo Worth Seeing in Sydney?
Es & Flo very much delivers simplicity, not that it’s a negative trait whatsoever. It’s neither extraordinary, nor is it dull by any means. There’s a truthfulness and a beating heart at its centre that reveals layers and – in the season of Pride – one that will appeal to, and affect, many audiences.
Tonsils + Tweezers: A confident debut from a new production team, but the script doesn’t tackle its true nature
Type – Comic Satire, Surrealism
If you liked – Boys on the Verge of Tearsby Sam Grabiner, ART by Yasmina Reza
“I’m thinking of something, only ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ questions. Go”, instructs Ariyan Sharma as the audience files in. What starts as a simple fun game to break the tension and establish Sharma as our omnipresent narrator shifts into something darker as Tonsils + Tweezers gets underway.
At its core, Will O’Mahony’s play is about how men love, hate and mourn in all our emotionally repressed ways. Tonsils + Tweezers, first staged in 2016 in Perth, had its Sydney premiere at Kings Cross Theatre in 2018 and is now being restaged as the premiere production by Sharehouse Production Company. They bring to the piece a playfulness that unveils layers upon layers until we reach the emotional core at the play’s centre.
Victor Y Z Xu’s Lewis (nicknamed Tweezers) and best friend Tonsils (Sharma) have that type of banter that occurs behind closed doors. In-jokes and shared pasts have built their friendship as the years have gone by. But on this particular day, that of their ten-year high school reunion, Tonsils tells us that Tweezers will down tools, take out a gun and ask, “Tonsils, ever wanted to kill someone?”
Lucy Rossen’s direction has a zany and dark Play School type quality about it. Hand-made props on cardboard, crude cut outs, and larger-than-life pop up books cast us back into the past, conjuring memories and extrapolating nightmares. The jokes land more often than not, and throughout there is a foundation of understanding that comes with harbouring guilt and hatred.
It’s also one of those plays where the toxicity of masculinity and the expanding, veracious effects that it places on young men is not pursued as much as it could (or indeed, should). Why is it that the chain of pain imposed on seditious boys in high school is glossed over in a simple, “I’m sorry” later in life? Especially when one, swift moment of fate can alter an individual’s life forever. O’Mahony doesn’t give us an answer to this, and it is the script’s biggest chasm.
The four performers Xu, Sharma, Tobey Carey, and Caitlin Green shift and transform throughout. From emotional suppression to gleeful narration, overacting lines from Macbeth, to a recurring gag with a cheeky wink, there’s a flow to the ensemble work at play here.
Sound design by Matthew Phillips is subtle throughout, imbuing a soft sense of dread, whilst Poppy Townsend’s lighting design uses shadow work and stark lighting to isolate and project imagery in key moments.
Is Tonsils + Tweezers Worth Seeing in Sydney?
Tonsils + Tweezers is a confident debut that gives us a fierce, emotional insight into the effects of unspoken trauma and grief. It reminds us of how easily men turn to violence, rather than processing emotions. But it also doesn’t show men a way through this, other than relying on time and age to do the work instead.
Tickets and Practical Info in Sydney 🎟️
Es & Flo
Cast and Creative Team
Producing Company: Mi Todo Productions
Writer: Jennifer Lunn
Director: Emma Canalese
Executive Producer: Chad Traupmann
Producer: Emma Sampson
Associate Producer: Dani Green
Stage Manager: Bianca Dreis
Set Designer: Soham Apte
Lighting Designer: Luna Ng
Costume Designer: Alice Vance
Sound Designer: Keelan Ellis
Dialect Coach: Linda Nichols-Gidley
Associate Directors: Nancy Denis & Holly Mazzola
Intimacy Director: Sonya Kerr
Video Designer: Aron Murray
Cast (of 6): Annie Byron, Eloise Snape, Fay Du Chateau, Erika Ndibe, Charlotte Salusinszky, Georgina Warren-Nwokolo
Understudies: Megan Heferen, Penny Day
Dates + Ticketing
Season: 13/02 – 28/02 (previews 13/02 & 14/02, opening night [invitation only] 15/02)
Times: Tues-Fri 7pm, Sat 2pm & 7pm, Sun 5pm
Ticket Prices:
Previews: $29.70 + booking fee
Cheap Tuesday: $38.50 + booking fee
Adult: $49.50-82.50 + booking fee
Concession: $38.50-60.50 + booking fee
Approximate Run Time: 1 hour 45 minutes (no interval)
Content Warnings: Strong language, adult themes, mild injury, references to domestic abuse, racism, miscarriage, homophobia, dementia, dying and death
Tonsils + Tweezers
Cast and Creative Team
Producing Company: Sharehouse Production Company
Writer: Will O’Mahony
Director: Lucy Rossen
Producers: Caitlin Green & Victor Xu
Stage Manager/Sound Designer: Matthew Phillips
Lighting Designer: Poppy Townsend
Production & Costume Designer: Bella Saltearn
Composer: Lia T
Marketing: Nick Warrand
Production Consultant: Mehhma Malhi
Cast (of 4): Victor Y Z Xu (Lewis), Caitlin Green (Beth), Ariyan Sharma (Tonsils), Toby Carey (Max)
Special Thanks: Leah Hall, Joel Beasley
Dates + Ticketing
Season: 17/02 – 27/02 (previews 17/02, opening night [invitation only] 18/02)
Times: Tues-Sat 9.15pm, Sunday 7.30pm
Ticket Prices:
Preview: $22 + booking fee
General Admission: $27.50 + booking fee
Approximate Run Time: 65 minutes
Content Warnings: Abuse, animal cruelty, death, racial slurs, strong language, violence and gun violence (including an imagined shooting)
