Review: Top Silk Peels Back The Gloss On 80s Ambition

★★★½

Top Silk, David Williamson’s 1989 play revived at Ensemble Theatre Sydney, goes full ‘80s.

There’s ambition, corruption, family drama, gloss and, of course, the shoulder pads. The play captures the gilded surface and corrupt underbelly of the decade in true Williamson form.

Jane (Gordon) is a legal aid solicitor who risks her family life to get her old flame Eddie (Jeremy Waters) out of jail. Her husband Trevor (Nicholas Brown), a high-flying barrister, is defending a powerful media mogul – Murdoch, anyone? – to advance his career. Meanwhile, their teenage son Mark (Samir Nasser), more left-leaning idealist than future lawyer, wants nothing to do with any of it.

It’s Williamson back in the territory of Emerald City. A story of legal ambition, moral compromise, and the price of wanting more, with Rachel Gordon, who starred in that very production, now leading the charge.

We’re plonked right back in the ‘80s from the get-go. Director Mark Kilmurry, set and costume designer Ailsa Paterson and lighting designer Kelsey Lee create that shiny, polished veneer vibe of the era, all sparkling surfaces, sparse and minimal but devoid of meaningful substance underneath.

The team go full retro, with old-style scene changes, harsh overhead lighting and sterile fluorescent glare. There’s a presentational vibe and episodic feel to the scene shifts – a little Dallas, a little Return to Eden.

The Scoop Two people stand in a courtroom setting: a woman in a white coat and green skirt on the left, and a man in a black suit with a powdered wig on the right. — The play captures the gilded surface and corrupt underbelly of the decade Photo by Prudence Upton

The first half is a little overly expository and literal. The work is often uncompromisingly direct, with the characters’ hidden motives immediately visible.

But the lead actors start to relax in the living room scenes. These are the scenes most intimate, and they invite us in, contrasting well with the stiff, tense legal offices and courtroom. Gordon and Brown limber up, owning the space and bouncing off each other in true Williamson-style rapid fire.

Samir Nasser, in his professional stage debut, is truly a standout. He’s immediately relatable, giving a naturalistic performance that grounds the narrative. He captures the authenticity of a late teen struggling with his sense of self and need for paternal approval.

The scenes between Jane (Jane Gordon) and Eddie (Jeremy Waters) are particularly watchable as the two spark off each other with more ease, driven particularly by Waters’ rugged, embodied performance.

Jeremy Waters is electric in his presence and relatable as Eddie. He brings a sense of visceral realism that he expresses through body and voice. He has that kind of voice that gives emotion a direct conduit to the audience.

Ensemble has a knack for taking older works and landing them right into the current cultural zeitgeist Photo by Prudence Upton

Later in the piece, there’s an exceptional scene between Jane and Jamie Oxenbould which has some authentic moments that feel born in the moment, with unrehearsed freshness. A more sophisticated comedy starts to emerge here, which almost takes flight and perhaps, as the run progresses, will start to take shape.

Williamson doesn’t shy away from social mores and the problematic flaws that underlie them. His skill has always been blending the corporate and social worlds with the private lives of his characters, and the relatable unravelling in the living room. A head-spinningly prolific writer whose first work was published in the late ‘60s, Williamson is still capturing the moral dilemmas we all grapple with.

While Top Silk is very of its time, there are elements that are relevant to today, particularly as the world around us swirls with rife corruption and corporate greed. This is where Williamson’s brilliance lies, and where Ensemble’s season selections shine – they have a knack for taking older works and landing them right into the current cultural zeitgeist.

But overall, the play struggles to strike the balance between drama and comedy. It’s not quite a dramedy, not a full satire; if anything, it feels more like an intense drama to me, with elements of soap opera, though a little uncertain of what it wants to be.

Though a little muddled in tone, Top Silk is sharp, direct and unapologetically Australian, and there’s a particular pleasure in watching all that ‘80s gloss crumble.

Top Silk is presented by Ensemble Theatre and runs to 12 September. 78 McDougall Street Kirribilli NSW 2061.

Tickets are available here.

Website: https://www.ensemble.com.au/shows/top-silk/

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