The Boys | Pip Theatre
Written by Gordon Graham, PIP Theatre’s The Boys was a powerful and thought-provoking piece about whether or not we, as a society, have grown up.
Inspired by the brutal rape and murder of Sydney nurse Anita Cobby in 1986, the play was written in the 1990’s and comments on the ‘boy will be boys’ culture; a culture that is still prevalent today. Whilst there were some scenes and language choices in the dialogue that may have felt a smidge outdated; the Brett and his brothers’ disregard for women is something still felt by many men around the world. Look at what’s happening. Just look at what happened to Iranian woman Hadis Najafi last month. Heck, all you have to do is read the ABC or watch A Current Affair.
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The play explores the narrative of Brett Sprague (Stephen Geronimos) returning to his family’s suburban home after having jail-time to be reunited with his mother (Deidre Grace), girlfriend (Zoe Houghton) and two brothers Glenn (Samuel Valentine) and Stevie (Aidan O’Donnell). The brothers are more than blood; they’re best mates too, which makes Brett’s view of treating women like second-class citizens even more the easier to pass on.
Playwright Graham interrogates the psychology of violence through the relationship of the two brothers, who are best mates and how they all come to share the view that women should be treated like second-class citizens. That they should be spat on, sexually and physically assaulted, walked over, abused and ultimately, that murdering them was a moral choice. One of the most poignant parts of Graham’s script is that whilst we still see women being sexually and verbally abused, most of the violence is supressed and hidden between the lines of the text. It is up to us to draw those connections and to use our imaginations, for a lack of a better term. Fight director Jason McKell and intimacy director Michelle Miall both did a fantastic job in their respective roles, making these glimpses of violence in its various forms all the more realistic and confronting.
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Set and costume designer Genevieve Ganner transformed Pip’s Auditorium into the backyard of a suburban home, with director Cienda McNamara seating the audience in the round and immersing us in the characters’ worlds. Overall, the cast had strong performances, especially the partners played by Zoe Houghton, Chantel Elyse and Leela Rashid. Elyse brought such complexity to her character Jackie, a character who tries to stand her ground against her abusive partner but ends up repressing what she knows to the truth about his role in the murder is a very emotional moment for the audience.
Houghton, who played another girlfriend who like Elyse’s character, was repeatedly bashed by the same man. She had an emotional stand-out moment near the closing of the final act, when she finally admitted that she believed the boys had done the murder but still decided to stay. Rashid’s character lived in a fantasy-land believing that having an abusive boyfriend and baby-daddy was better than having nothing at all; a mentality that Rashid made all consuming. It made me want to strangle her character and tell her to ‘wake up’ and ‘get out’ despite knowing that it’s not that easy for many women in abusive relationships to leave their partners. Factors such as the fear of what would happen if their partner found them, the impacts of ongoing violence and trauma on a person’s confidence, self-esteem, anxiety and the practical reasons like not having a job or financial independence can ultimately result in many people staying in abusive relationships when they would otherwise leave.
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The Boys tackles the very real, very complex topic of domestic violence and toxic masculinity through a lens that may be jarring, confronting, and confounding for audience members. While some of the writing and character arcs can be frustrating from us looking on the outside, people suffering abuse often don’t have the luxury of the easy-way-out, and that just makes the fate of the victims in The Boys all the more tragic.
At times, hard to watch, but executed with the nuance this piece warrants, Pip Theatre’s The Boys will have you wondering how much we have truly changed as a society since 1986.
The Boys plays until 22 October 2022 at PIP Theatre, Milton.
If you or anyone you know is experiencing or has experienced domestic, family and sexual violence, 1800respect is available 24/7 either online or over the phone on 1800 737 732. They provide free and confidential counselling, information and support to anyone in Australia, including how to best support loved ones dealing with this.
