Stay Woke (Malthouse Theatre) – theatre review
Political correctness and sibling rivalry get a decent working over in Stay Woke, the brainchild of Aran Thangaratnam. Sai (Kaivu Suvarna) is a 25-year-old of Sri Lankan origin who is involved in medical research. He and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kate (Rose Adams), a pharmacist, are invited by his older brother Niv (Dushan Philips) to join him and his long-term girlfriend Mae (Brooke Lee) – who works in a cultural awareness centre – on a skiing weekend.
Niv is five years older than Sai, the son he perceives his parents favoured. It turns out that Niv is now a vegan and is looking for seed investors for a start-up vegan app. Niv is also highly strung and passionate about calling out white privilege, which he does virtually as soon as he sets eyes upon Kate. Kate – who has never skied before – was hardly born into privilege. She grew up in Bairnsdale, the daughter of a policeman.
But in her attempt to be friendly and personable, at her first encounter with Niv and Mae she quickly manages to put her foot in it. She does so out of ignorance, but Niv is belligerent in response. The situation worsens when she fails to address Mae properly after Mae reveals she identifies as non-binary. And the brothers are at each other’s throats the whole time they are together. Niv plays the provocateur, Mae is more chilled but still out to educate, Sai seems to have his act together and Kate is nervous and constantly apologising.
While decidedly humourous, I felt Stay Woke needed more substance to maintain interest. I thought the story arc could have been further developed. It was well meaning, but thin and uneven. At times voice projection was an issue. Certain episodes resonated more than others. Among the former was a moment of sheer genius. I speak of literally shining a light on the divide between white and brown. As a whole, the play tried too hard to please and that gets down to the writing.
To me, Brooke Lee was the most natural of the performers. She had a good sense of comic timing and was gifted some choice lines. The staging – a fine representation of a Scandinavian wooden cabin – impressed. Matilda Woodroofe was both set and costume designer. So, while not without merit or laughs and notwithstanding the piece’s intent to draw attention to addressing deficits, I wasn’t totally sold. Directed by Bridget Balodis, Stay Woke is playing at Becket Theatre, at Malthouse Theatre, until 13th March, 2022.
Alex First
Alex First is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.