Love it, love it, love it! I thoroughly enjoyed the opening night. A Hoax is written by Rick Viede which won the 2011 Griffin Award.
A Hoax is about an author Ant (Glen Hazeldine) who writes about a young Aboriginal girl called Currah (Shari Sebbens). The problem is that Currah is not really Currah. Ronnie (Sally McKenzie) a literary agent, who was once known to have the Midas touch, is keen to get back her former glory and when she meets Currah she sees gold. Ant is flung aside and Currah is suddenly the person everybody wants to meet. There is another character Tyrelle (Charles Allen), as he says to Currah he is a "biracial homosexual from a working-class background". He finds comfort in Currah's story and is humbled by her strength so when he discovers the truth it is almost too much for him and you wonder, for a second, how far he will go.
The script and characters are amusing and sometimes laugh out loud. It has many double standards for example; Ant says he has to sign the contract because Currah has been known to be exploited and when Tyrelle talks about hating the taxi drivers because they are "racist transphobic homophobic towel heads". The theme of abuse is runs through the play on many levels; Currah was physically abused, Miri (Kurrah) abuses her relationship with Ant, they all abuse the trust of the public that the story is true, hence the title A Hoax. The end of Act One has one of the funniest lines when Currah declare to an audience that "Life's like a big fucken dick. It's hard." In some ways that sums up the whole play, life is hard and some people will do anything to get to the top.
All the actors performed brilliantly and I have to say my favourite character was Ronnie. Sally McKenzie seemed very at home playing the slightly drunk, has been, literary agent.
The director Lee Lewis did a great job putting this together is the confines of the SBW Stables Theatre. The use of music and film added just the something extra every now and then. It was short and sweet, so gave an instant "wow that was cool"!
A Hoax is playing at the SBW Stables Theatre in Darlinghurst until 1 September.
