Tough, gritty and uncompromising. That is the incendiary combination that marks the work of co-creators Patricia Cornelius (also writer), Susie Dee (also director) and Nicci Wilks (also performer). They have done it before with RUNT, a study of the underdog, and now Bad Boy, which tackles misogyny and domestic violence.
A female actor, Wilks, get inside the psyche of a male character by playing the guy. At the outset, he appears to be a crude stand-up comedian, sporting grease paint and a fake mo. He “jokes” about sexual acts. Bad Boy is broken into a series of episodes that charts his descent. After the opening scene, we cut to the same bloke (sans grease paint and mo) picking up and falling for a woman he takes an immediate fancy to.
He explains his feelings and his courting ritual: their first kiss, having sex, his adoration. Then his jealousy takes hold: he accuses her, he stalks her, he distances her, he chokes her … and on it goes. It is ugly to listen to and watch, just as it should be. Therapy, threats, apologies and police intervention follow, but the cycle isn’t broken. The name calling becomes incessant. It gets uglier and uglier, and is most distressing. What does it take to break the cycle? This can only end badly.
Bad Boy shines a spotlight on the all too frequent instances of mental and physical torment to which women are subjected each day. It is searing theatre at the heart of which is cold, hard truth. I can’t praise more highly what Cornelius, Dee and Wilks have achieved. It gets down to the way Wilks carries herself. She is fierce, determined and desperate. As he, she is one tough cookie for whom it is all about self – his desires, his needs, his wants.
The honeymoon period is short, after which he quickly becomes caught up in a mouse wheel of false accusations and violence. Of course, the effectiveness of any play starts with the writing and Cornelius is known for going full throttle. Again, in Bad Boy, she cuts to the quick, as the subject demands. What we see feels all too real. The action takes place on an elevated round platform, above which red wording appears ticker tape style, being cues to the vignettes. The set and costume designer (the subject is dressed in dark clothing) is Romanie Harper.
Together with the efforts of composer and sound designer Kelly Ryall and lighting designer Jenny Hector, the play offers no beg pardons, nor should it. Bad Boy is stark and striking – a look into a well of darkness, a scourge on society. Sixty minutes without interval, it is playing at fortyfivedownstairs until 13 October 2024, as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Alex First
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- Big Heart (Theatre Works) – theatre review
- RUNT (fortyfivedownstairs) – theatre review
- The Long Pigs (Theatre Works) – theatre review
Alex First is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.