Carissa Lee (no relation) reviews Michele Lee’s wickedly funny Going Down at Malthouse Theatre
Michele Lee’s Going Down presents us with a writer’s struggle to be marketable without selling out, juggling her writing career and a “normal” job to make existence possible. How do we find the balance between integrity and marketability, and when does friendly competition become some weird obsession?
Its protagonist is Asian-Australian writer Natalie (Catherine Davies), author of the mildly successful debut novel Banana Girl, in which she talks about her sexual conquests. Michele Lee’s satirical play showcases everyday issues that so many of the the ethnically “Other’ mob have to deal with: the age old “Where are you really from?”, or the assumption that she was born of a refugee heritage.
Natalie, a modern Asian Australian woman, is in constant competition with Lulu Juhi (Jenny Wu), a 23-year-old Asian winner of the Miles Frankland award. The difference between the two women is that Lulu is catering to the popular poor-Asian-family narrative that so many people are wanting to read. As minorities, we’re more intriguing when we can be categorised in some way that confirms the comfort of white audiences. In response, Natalie decides that she’ll get her next book deal by writing about her new sexual adventures: “100 cocks in 100 nights”.
Of course, both kinds of story, sex versus family, have merit; but with Asian Australian writers there can be an inevitable exoticism attached to both: sex stories attract the “yellow fever” thing, while family heritage narratives come with exotic plumage and “tragic migrant” tropes that, according to Lee’s play, feed into insidious stereotypes.
The Sisters Hayes’ set is chic and functional, allowing director Leticia Cáceres to make lightning-fast transitions between scenes and locations. A raised section of the stage is used for café or stage scenes, with comic projections of eggplant and banana emoji sexts on the back wall. A street at the front, with a constant parade of passing Melburnians, is represented by bollards. At one point the bollards are yarn bombed which, I was delighted to read in the program, were knitted by the mothers of the creative team.
As the self-absorbed Natalie, Davies has an Ab Fab hyperactive energy. She doesn’t give a shit about how pretty she is when she’s doing it, whether she’s chugging from a goon sack, bouncing on some dude’s face, or power-chucking ricotta donuts. Josh Price, who plays the majority of the minor roles, may have stolen the show. He’s hilarious and absolutely owns every character he plays.
Naomi Rukavina as Natalie’s friend Tilda is the polar opposite of the minority trope: she’s a self-appointed martyr, not satisfied unless everyone else is a step or so behind her. An accidental dictator of what it means to be a pro-active minority member in society. The small passer-by roles on bicycles, would have been such a mess-around to organise costume-wise, are so worth it.
Lee’s play is funny, and expresses the frustrations of those of us who can relate to what Natalie is going through by being typecast or having to market herself as a brand in an increasingly competitive publishing world, as well as the broader struggle of trying to figure oneself out as a young person in this world. Set in Melbourne, it pokes fun at the Wheeler Centre, suburbia and Melbourne’s hipster aesthetic, which makes it feel like the cast are sharing inside jokes with us. The sex scenes are hilarious, involving the biggest dildo I’ve ever seen in my life, and it’s especially awesome to see a woman with sexual power. The first half of the play was high-energy, polished and funny as hell.
The show loses dramatic momentum when we get to the middle of the play. A weird narrative involving a South Yarra stereotype I never knew existed and a sugar-high-induced hallucination leads the story astray, and feels not only out of place, but tedious.
Going Down ends with a slightly puzzling coda in which we have a little look into the future. To my mind the real ending is when Natalie reaches a particular realisation that is always an interesting point to bring up when it comes to artists who are from a minority group. As minorities, do we let our identity be the thing that defines us, or do we allow ourselves to be writers first and minorities second? There is a great revelation in which Natalie discovers that she, like Lulu, has a tumultuous family past of her own; but she doesn’t feel a need to explore it, or to display it for the whole world to cry over. She wants something to reclaim or to reject: but it has to be her own choice.
Going Down by Michele Lee, directed by Leticia Cáceres. Set and costume by The Sisters Hayes, AV design by Rebecca Hayes, lighting design by Sian James-Holland, sound design by The Sweats. With Paul Blenheim, Catherine Davies, Josh Price, Naomi Rukavina and Jenny Wu. Beckett Theatre at Malthouse Theatre until June 3. Bookings
AUSLAN Interpretation or description is not available for this production.
Wheelchair bookings can be made for all performances at The Coopers Malthouse. Patrons can either transfer from their wheelchair to a seat, or the patron may stay in their chair. We can also reserve a space next to this position for companions or friends attending. Please contact Box Office via (03) 9685 5111 or boxoffice@malthousetheatre.com.au
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