Kitty Litter, playing at the MC Showroom Prahran for a limited season, is a brilliant new Australian comedy by production company A Serious Goose – fresh, fast, and funny.
The play opens with Robin (Sian Crowe) entering an apartment and pouring herself a very large glass of wine. She’s had a rough night. But it only gets rougher when her ex-boyfriend Dan (Hamish Johnston) arrives at the door – but perhaps she shouldn’t be so surprised, given it’s his apartment. It only gets messier from there.
After some desultory travel chat, Robin discloses that she’s been seeing an older man, Brian (Stuart Daulman), for the past six months, but it ended badly when she found out (a mere handful of hours ago) that he’d been less than honest with her, specifically about the existence of his wife.
Caught between anger, sadness, and a desire for revenge, Robin’s emotional journey propels the play. And the situation only gets stickier when Brian shows up at the door too, searching for his missing cat.
The play is the brainchild of Hamish Johnston, who wrote the script and stars as Dan. He’s teamed up with Cameron Taylor, an emerging director and performer with Cirque du Soleil. It’s a rewarding pairing.
The script is funny, with oodles of laugh-out-loud moments, and the action is fast-paced – Robin and Dan move through conversation with an ease that feels real for two people who know each other well.
Johnston clearly has an ear for dialogue: the whole thing felt like listening in on a particularly juicy conversation on the tram or peering into the neighbours’ living room.
Alice Vance brings the same eye for detail to the set design. The aperture is tight: the living-room-cum-kitchen of a single apartment, in a suburb not too far from here. That helps build authenticity, and it’s clear every decision has been made with purpose.
The apartment, from the IKEA lamp to the tube of Woollies al foil to the sad spider plant, feels lived in. It echoes the charming authenticity of Please Like Me. And the effect is only heightened by the way the characters themselves fully inhabit the space. Tics such as Dan’s regular concern for feet on his couch add to the mise-en-scene.
The performances are strong across the board. Sian Crowe and Hamish Johnston have an ease on stage together and nail the familiar-yet-unfamiliar strangeness of exes. They both clearly have excellent comedic chops, too, with understated delivery that works perfectly for dry Australian humour.
Stuart Daulman is suitably weary as Brian, a slightly pathetic, sweat-pocked man who would very much like to go home with his cat and escape the consequences of his own actions.
Kitty Litter has a short run time – just over an hour, but it packs in a lot of laughs. This fresh and fun show is an impressive debut for a new voice in Australian comedy. I’ll be watching closely what comes next!
Kitty Litter is presented by A Serious Goose and runs to 11 February at the MC Showroom. L1 / 50 Clifton Street Prahran Vic 3181.
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1510677?
Website: https://www.kittylitterplay.com/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/kittylitterplay/ and https://www.instagram.com/a.seriousgoose/
Photo credits: Rhonin Xu
