The Trouble with Harry - 8 out of 10 stars
Flinders Drama Centre
TICKETS: The Trouble With Harry | Adelaide Fringe
The Trouble with Harry is presented by graduating actors of
Flinders University Drama Centre, South Australia’s leading actor training
institution. It is an institution that encourages its students to take artistic
risks; with this production, this ensemble has leaped into the deep end.
The Trouble with Harry explores the domestic life of Harry
Crawford, his wife, Annie Birkett, and her young son, Harry Birkett. Striving
for a “normal” life but constantly under the microscopic gaze of prying
neighbours and a society that demands strict gender conformity, their world is
shattered when Harry’s estranged daughter, Josephine, arrives on the doorstep.
Her presence is the catalyst that tears their world apart, threatening to
expose Harry Crawford and ending in the mysterious death of Annie. The play’s
coda retells the trial that would go on to be the most scandalous in Australian
history.
The play begins with our voyeurs played by Violet Alfred and
Aidan Puckridge. Alfred and Puckridge portray all of our ancillary characters
and function as a “Greek chorus” that can often be seen hovering near the
playing area observing, just as the nosey neighbours of the street would have
parted the curtains to get the gossip. Playing multiple characters that need to
flow seamlessly from one to the next as the actor turns on the spot takes skill
and practice. An actor must be able to change their posture, mannerisms and
voice on a dime. Alfred and Puckridge each manage this well, differentiating
between most of their characters. I did find myself wishing Alfred, and to a
slightly lesser extent Puckridge, took a more working-class approach to some of
their accents to better reflect the grit of the period. Ultimately, Alfred and
Puckridge were a double act that served the performance and the story with the
right amount of vindictiveness, voyeurism and menace.
Siena Itropico, as Annie Birkett, captures the exasperation
of being a mother and wife in the late nineteen-teens well. She both worries
and dotes on her son Harry as well as her husband Harry. Her conflicted
feelings are plain to see on Itropico’s face as she realises, she must do the
“decent thing” and offer a place for Josephine Falleni to stay, regardless of
how much trouble she caused when she last stayed with them.
Wirra Benveniste, as Josephine Falleni, has captured the
trauma of the estranged daughter of Harry Crawford appropriately. As a young
woman eager to make her mark and live her own life but still in need of support
despite not recognising that fact, Benveniste shows us how trauma and
abandonment can lead to life altering decisions made without any regard for the
consequences. Her moment to shine is as she chooses whether to share with young
Harry Birkett what she knows about her father, as the neighbours tell different
stories of what might have happened.
Karma Duffield plays our leading man for the production, and
he lives in the role with the awkward ease that’s required. Harry Crawford is a
transgender man (though it is impossible to know if the real Harry Crawford
would identify with that label today) and so is Karma Duffield. This is the
first time this role has been played by a transgender man (previously the role
had only been portrayed by cisgender women). And the production is the better
for it. Duffield’s lived experience brings an inherent authenticity to his
choices and adds a depth of character that would otherwise have been missing.
As the play approaches its climax, Duffield’s emoting of Harry’s fear and shame
at the threat of discovery and losing Annie are deeply moving.
Georgia Watts’ role as Harry Birkett, Annie’s 12- or
13-year-old son provides Duffield a suitable reflection of burgeoning manhood
to be both proud of shaping and scared of failing. Watts captures the youthful
innocence and exuberance of buying a rooster but being told it’s a hen and
wanting to get his first pair of trousers. Her acting with the stuffed rooster
was quite endearing to the audience.
Kiara Skene (director) and Theo Warner (dramaturg) have
built a show with a sensitivity and understanding that runs deep. The work they
have done with Duffield, Itropico, Benveniste and Watts is clear from their
performances. They handled the vitriol directed at Harry Crawford with care,
not once allowing the audience to consider they or the production condoned such
behaviour. Skene’s use of the outdoor venue, with the audience in two rows and
on three sides of the performance space was skilful, utilising the garden and
its paths to create both separation and intrusiveness.
The Trouble with Harry has 7 more performances; however,
with 4 of those already sold out, I encourage you to get your tickets without
delay. This is a queer story being presented by queer people through a queer
lens. I can’t wait to see what they do next now that they’ve graduated.
–Scott
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