When the political becomes personal
Diving for Pearls
By Katherine Thomson
Directed by Adam Cook
With Deborah Kennedy, Danny Adcock, Steve Rodgers, Cornelia Frances and Sacha Horler
Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli
Until July 4.
Review by Allen Myers
First performed in 1991, Diving for Pearls is very much set in the industrial relations climate of the '80s. It provides an interesting new perspective to view it from 1998, when the prevailing tone has shifted from multiskilling and quality circles to guard dogs and balaclavas. Although that's only a few years in chronology, it seems like ages in social terms.
Nevertheless, Katherine Thomson's play holds up quite well in the new era of world's best practice villainy and union-bashing.
This is not only because a return to gentler, more sophisticated ways of screwing the workers may be only as far away as the next election (and still exist vestigially in NSW). Much more, it's due to well-scripted dialogue and taut dramatic development.
The particulars of industrial politics are the setting rather than the central theme. The primary focus of the play is the interaction between personal and broader social relationships.
The action revolves around Barbara (Deborah Kennedy), trying to create a life for herself in her late 30s after her marriage ends. Den, 50, is a self-effacing unskilled labourer in the State Engineering Works. If their romantic attachment at first seems unlikely, it is soon made convincing by a controlled but powerful performance by Danny Adcock that gives insight to depths of character beneath a placid exterior.
Driven by unrealistic dreams and rivalry with her disapproving sister, Barbara enrols in a hospitality industry training course, believing that the "poise", "grooming" and snatches of Japanese phrases it imparts will land her a job in the international resort being built on the beach.
Meanwhile Ron (Steve Rodgers), Den's brother-in-law, returns as an industrial consultant to the factory in which he worked as a labourer in his youth. The government has charged the consultants with modernising the crumbling SEW, and the air is soon thick with win-win situations, empowerment, flatter management structures and upgrading — at least for those who manage to keep their jobs. Under Ron's prodding, Den is soon on his way to getting his welder's ticket.
A shift in the rising fortunes of Barbara and Den is signalled by the unexpected arrival of Verge (Sacha Horler), Barbara's retarded teenage daughter, who has fled the institution where she grew up. From this point, things begin to unravel, the external social pressures gradually undermining Barbara and Den's relationship and their own views of themselves.
This is a tightly directed production, dealing with real people and themes that matter. For an extra treat, you can get to the theatre by ferry from Circular Quay.