Venue: New Theatre (Newtown NSW), Sep 20 – 30, 2023
Playwright: Van Badham
Director: Madeleine Withington
Cast: Matt Abotomey, Emelia Corlett, Sarah Greenwood, Kandice Joy, Gerry Mullaly
Images by Campbell Parsons
Theatre review
Ishtar has to take time out from her PhD in feminism, because she is completely broke, and misogynist podcaster Jake is offering huge amounts of money for her help in earning Danish librarian Anne’s affections. Van Badham’s 2019 play Banging Denmark has only increased in relevance, as incels and pickup artists continue to gain prominence in our consciousness, with their figureheads now becoming big-time celebrities, and with dominant cultural personalities legitimising their abhorrent values and beliefs.
Director Madeleine Withington finds in her production, the real heart of the matter, which relates to how we could solve a problem like bigotry. Before we reach that concluding epiphany however, Withington delivers a work determined to entertain, taking full advantage of the marvellous absurdity in Badham’s often outrageous comedy.
Leading lady Sarah Greenwood’s staggering intensity as Ishtar delivers for the show its electric propulsive charge. That energy renders for the role an extraordinary passion that is simultaneously theatrical, yet true to the strident archetype to which it refers. Matt Abotomey is similarly flamboyant in his humour, unabashed with the hyperbolic physicality he brings to Jake, in a show that is never short of verve.
Costumes by Ruby Jenkins offer accurate depictions of these comical characters, along with a set that offers sufficient versatility to help conjure the various scenic requirements of Banging Denmark. Lights by Luna Ng are colourful and dynamic, gallant in their efforts to introduce a sense of liveliness to the staging. Daniel Herten’s sound design too is stimulating, able to sustain interest with its quirky approach.
It seems a natural instinct to wish to alienate those we deem despicable, to disparage and humiliate those intent on languishing in their indignant dedication to prejudice. We know however, that cruelty does little to persuade anyone to reverse their course of action. There is a surprising kindness to Banging Denmark that can feel unsatisfying in our current climate of ravenous viciousness and inhumanity, but there is no denying the truth, that hate solves nothing, that social fracture is ultimately undesirable, except for the very few who profit from those divisions. There is a part of us that tends to relish in conflict and bloodletting, but the better parts of our humanity understand that delicious as they may feel, wars are never what we want.
Suzy Goes See 