The Rules Of April
Produced by Tunks Productions

Cast: Salvatore Coco, Bree Desborough, Errol Henderson, Adam McGurk, Simone Oliver, Gina Pollock, Luke Rogers, Jane E Seymour, Wayne Tunks.

Written by: Wayne Tunks
Directed by: Fiona Hallenan-Barker

Publicist: Geoff Sirmai

Australian Premiere: Newtown Theatre, Sydney. Thursday, June 12, 2008.


The Lowdown:
A new Australian play by Wayne Tunks.


AussieTheatre.com Review:
t’s already his third play this year, and Wayne Tunks is back in his favourite writer/producer/performer triple-hander role with The Rules Of April, which premiered Thursday at Newtown Theatre. Back to his rom-com roots, Tunks’ latest play follows three sisters and their trials and tribulations in the face of love. Armed with manically feuding parents and plenty a love catastrophe to go around, the girls have to find their own way around the rocky path of the heart.

Simone Oliver performs in the title role, alongside Gina Pollock as sister Belle and Bree Desborough as the youngest, Eva. All three decided long ago on a set of rules to live their romantic lives by, and at this stage in their lives, not one of them believes they are, or ever have been, truly in love. Suddenly their parents want a divorce, two new men arrive on the scene, and one partner creates some unwelcome pressure. The three women perform well and strive to render lukewarm sisterly banter amusing and natural. Quick quips about sex lives (or lack of) abound, as well as many a reminiscence of their childhood. Oliver is strong as the sister determined to barricade her heart from the prospect of love and Desborough is delightfully cheeky in welcoming new instances. Pollock’s performance as the straight-laced sister did however feel self-conscious and a little forced. You get what you’d expect from these three characters. Scenes full of the ups and downs of romance, sisterly condolence and wise words of advice.

It’s like a chick-flick for the stage, but it just feels empty because of a lack of character development. Whilst April works in her father’s antiques store, Belle simply says she is always “studying” and we aren’t given any clues as to what Eva does with her time. The sisters’ fears of commitment probably stemming from growing up with a mother and father who could not stand each other, was quite believable however and gives us more layers to engage with. Errol Henderson as the girls’ father, was wonderfully awkward after finding himself in a completely new, yet exciting, time of life. To her credit, Jane E Seymour found an honesty in her role as the mother. Although her role is written as somewhat a madwoman, her determination to see her daughters happy yet unwittingly doing everything in her power to do the opposite, was genuinely entertaining. Seymour has some solid lines that had the audience really laughing out loud.

The three male roles worked to various degrees, with the actors doing their best with limited characters. Adam McQuirk’s unlucky-in-love Finn was genuine and charming but again, hardly developed. He is in advertising, though only mentions it once and nothing is made of this. Luke Rogers is believable as the burgeoning tennis player, hiding a secret and discovering what he thinks is love. Salvatore Coco does marvellously well given his character is the most sketchy of all. As Belle’s long-term boyfriend Patrick, I found his lines were performed with the most natural ease of all. Nevertheless, he is presented as an outsider to the family, also constantly claiming to be “studying” for his Phd (we are never told what in) and who makes a decision that I found hard to believe. Tunks himself steps in as the gay interior designer who frequents the family’s antiques shop and has a hand in things going awry. By all means it is a camp, highly stereotypical role, but Tunks does have the audience on his side as his laps up his time on stage.

Production-wise, Fiona Hallenan-Barker treats the script as it presents itself – a light family comedy that doesn’t try to push the boundaries. Barry French’s set remained a mystery to me throughout the performance. Black panelling, painted with primary coloured footprints and twister-like dots held no relevance to the play whatsoever.

While I cannot claim to have seen Silvertop Ash, Tunks’ well-received, more ‘meaty’ play earlier this year, I find myself wishing that he would take risks and really test his own writing ability. After seeing three of his previous plays, I cannot help but be stuck on their formulaic nature. For me, watching a Tunks play is like looking at a diagram of narrative structure. All the elements are present (exposition, climax, resolution) but the writing never seems to flow or build naturally. His dialogue is witty, yet simple and often cliche. Perhaps this is why performances always seem to me quite stilted, as actors can only work with what they are given. In terms of plot development, there were certainly some interesting choices which were satisfyingly predictable. Although I felt the play could have ended several times over, there were some resolutions that weren’t expected. The first act bubbled along at a moderate pace, then exploded with an amusing ‘extended’ family scene. It wasn’t the most innovative idea to put every character on stage as soon as a climax is needed, but I’m beginning to accept that Wayne Tunks is not trying to create original, thought-provoking theatre.

If you are not looking for that, then Tunks’ play does tick the boxes. It is an amusing family portrait that follows a group of hapless men and women and their search for (or avoidance of) love. It doesn’t go very deep, and the themes of sibling solidarity get a little schmaltzy at times, but on the whole it is an easy, enjoyable night out. I am certain Wayne Tunks will happily continue to fill his CV with his trademark comfortable comedies, although I will be very interested should he decide to really challenge himself.


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