Strangers In Between

Golden Goose Theatre • 19th Sep - 7th Oct

It’s hard to believe it was way back in 2020 that I last visited The Golden Goose pub where I saw the brilliant Howerd’s End by Mark Farrelly. (www.jacktheladmag.com/theatre-reviews/howerdsend). So, it was good to finally be back, this time for the press night of ‘Strangers In Between’ by Tommy Murphy, a play I first saw even longer ago in 2016 at The Kings Head Theatre. I had really enjoyed it back then, and was curious to find out just how well this new production would stand up by comparison.

Presented this time by LAMBCO productions, Adam Spreadbury-Maher (who directed the 2016 version) has returned to take up directing duties once again, whilst Stephen Connery Brown is also back to reprise his role as Peter. The remaining roles in this three-hander are performed by newcomer Alex Ansdell as Shane, and Matthew Mitcham in the dual roles of Ben and Will.  The 2016 production ultimately led to full profile features in Jack The Lad magazine of both the director, (Issue 16), and actor Roly Botha, who had originally played ‘Shane’, (Issue 12). It’s a testament to just how impressive that original production had been… but would this 2023 rival manage to have the same impact?

To recap, Strangers In Between is set In Australia, and is the story of a young 16 year old, Shane, who has run away from his more rural home town of Goulburn, travelling the 195 kilometres to the altogether more metropolitan district of Kings Cross in Sydney in order to start a new life. There’s a lot to take in for the wide-eyed innocent as he grapples to not only come to terms with a different, more cosmopolitan pace of life, but also his sexuality which, when living back at home he had tried to hide from everyone… which, it would seem, included himself. Struggling to make ends meet, confused, and with no friends, he encounters Will and Peter, customers of the liquor store he has found a job at. Peter is an older man who carries with him a certain wisdom that comes with age. Will is a young man in his sexual prime, and with both being confident gay men it’s an aspect of queerness Shane hasn’t encountered before and, as fate pulls them together, he awkwardly looks to build himself a more loving and supportive ‘found’ family. It’s not a particularly smooth journey, Shane first needing to address the years of internalised homophobia that still periodically bursts out, but it’s not easy for him given just how engrained this survival instinct is, it having been the armour he had developed to protect himself from the small-town attitudes of his previous life. However, It soon becomes clear that all three of the trio are on something of a transitional journey, and must address the motivations behind their newly forged inter-generational friendship.

This latest production is just as touching and hilariously funny as I remember the play being in 2016. Spreadbury-Maher has managed to squeeze fresh, energetic performances out of this latest cast, and despite the relatively small physical space afforded by this pub theatre, it has no problem taking the audience on a multi-locational journey. This is helped in no small measure by Murphy’s engaging and incredibly sharp script, peppered with plenty of laugh-out-loud one-liners, all of which hit their mark delivered by this incredibly capable cast. David Shield’s set design also manages to make the most out of the rather economic staging.

Alex Ansdell brings to his character the same wide-eyed naivety and charm that was once the stock-in-trade of a young Hugh Laurie, (a promising start for this young actor considering just how successful Laurie’s career ended up!), and as Shane, he is not only able to easily gain the audiences affection early on in proceedings, but is also able to keep them onside through a number of his darker, less attractive interludes. Whilst it’s sometimes hard to imagine that someone can be quite so naïve on as many levels as Shane appears to be, Ansdell never fails to bring real heart to his performance, marking it out as an incredibly strong professional debut.

Matthew Mitcham, seen here making his own UK acting debut, has the added challenge of bringing two characters to life. As Will he is Shanes first sexual encounter in Sydney, (and the deliverer of Shanes first STD), and as Ben he oozes the toxic masculinity of Shanes brother, seemingly on a mission to bring his errant sibling back to the family fold. So competent is Mitcham in both roles that Spreadbury-Maher makes the creative decision to have him change between characters whilst still on stage, rather than hidden from the audience’s view. A risky strategy but one that Mitcham manages to take in his stride, never missing a beat between transitions and bringing the audience right back into the moment on the other side.

As far as Stephen Connery Brown is concerned, his portrayal of Peter is a delight to watch. His character manages to bring a level headedness to this newly formed trio, whilst his own emotional vulnerability can still be seen to bubble just beneath the surface. His withering, wry asides also garner him some of the biggest laughs of the evening.

So, did this production have as much of an impact on me as it did first time around? Well, given 2016’s production was already a well-polished affair, Spreadbury-Maher has somehow managed to give this latest outing of Tommy Murphy’s play a fresh coat of varnish, making Strangers In Between as funny and as moving as it has ever been.

★★★★★

review: Simon J. Webb

photographs: Peter Davies