Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) had a thing about significant moments being cyclical, returning to an individual even when the person involved didn't want them to return. Michael, who runs an art studio in Melbourne, has a thing about Nietzsche. This and the boomerang - which somehow always returns to its owner - are central images to The Present, by Australian writer Nick Ward.

The play's title plays on words: the present which is now, and Danny's birthday present from Michael - one of Nietzsche's books and a boomerang. The action happens in the two weeks following the murder of John Lennon (1940-1980) - Lennon's haunting, floaty lyrics fill the background. His murder is the trauma which fuels, in a mysterious way, the nightmare present.

The set is a plain space, the whitest of white interiors, which again contrasts with the dark interior landscape of the characters. There's Danny, an 18-year old traveller from somewhere in the north of England (Max Lindsay). He goes to Australia and meets quixotic Michael (Nathan Godkin, in overdrive) in a bar. Somehow, he's already carrying his own nightmare - a dream of rape and murder - with him. Michael gives him a room, and re-introduces him to Libby (Sophie Brabenec) whom Michael had met in England in the long, hot summer of 1976. Wonderfully dangerous and pretty Becky (Shelley Lang, photo) is her flatmate - and possibly more.

The Present is about the significant moments which happen to everyone, but which - as they drift away into the past - are already re-imagined, mentally reconstructed to suit the needs of life. Occasionally the play really does reach the heights, a lyrical evoking of that mystery which exists in everyone's pasts. It is then a traveller's tale of wonders and temptation which, back home and sober, will never seem to be quite as it is.

Nathan Godkin as Michael gets most of the good lines and makes the most of them. Max Lindsay as Danny has a tougher job, trying to be the blank canvas on which everyone leaves a mark. In the end it's impossible not to warm to Danny, as his trippy, hippy journey goes along. Danny's birthday marks a kind of rites-of-passage moment, as though in the transition of that year he has become something he wasn't before - whether as traveller or lover doesn't seem to matter too much. The journey is the important thing, and larger-than-life characters like Michael and the drug-stimulated, edgy Becky would live in the mind for ever - even if the events surrounding them are as fake as the sales-patter Danny uses to sell Michael's imported paintings.

The Present is well-worth seeing - and being given a chance. It's a curious play - the opening is confusing; there are plenty of open-mouth moments throughout; some nudity too; and it leaves behind a haunting sense of having been somewhere strange, which only time has served to re-arrange.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Sophie Brabanec – Libby; Nathan Godkin – Michael; Shelley Lang – Becky; Max Lindsay – Danny.

Company Credits: Writer - Nick Ward. Director - Adam Spreadbury-Maher. Lighting Designer - Steve Lowe. Sound Designer - Alan O'Duffy. Technical Operator - uncredited. Costume - Jemima Cater-Lewis. Assistant Director - Tess Butler. Stage Manager - Sarah-Linn Taylor. Fight Director - Miles Mlambo. Press Officer - Caty Smith. Producer - Matthew Burton. Company - Good Night Out. Website - www.goodnightout.org.uk.

END

(c) Michael Spring 2009

reviewed Thursday 18 August 09 / The Cock Tavern Theatre, Kilburn, London UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com