Socrates Johnston is Unemployable! Tap Gallery Theatre Sydney

Sultry jazz from an electric guitar and a saxophone lures you in. You take your seat. You look at the stage. It is black with white chalk. Fragments of quotes, stick figures, sketches of a bed and an open book are on the walls. A naïve chalked silverfish on the floor in the corner. There is a large black box in the middle of the space. You try to interpret what the words on the walls can possibly mean. “Just because you are born doesn’t mean you deserve it good.” “If you look long into an abyss the abyss also looks into you.” As you ponder, the music intensifies. A red light fills the stage. A man in black and white striped pyjamas enters from the left. He crouches against a wall in the foetal position. Thus begins Matthew Holt’s latest theatrical and philosophical escapade, Socrates Johnston is Unemployable! The protagonist in pyjamas is a man whose unfortunate upbringing leaves him in a state of arrested development who is unable to communicate effectively. He is stuck with the mentality of a child. Wide-eyed and frantic, he confesses his likes and dislikes to the audience from within a jail cell, one which he illustrates on the set himself with thick stick of chalk. Paul Roper is an enigmatic, engaging and endearing actor who brings the title character to life with an innocent charm. His huge blue eyes are captivating from the outset and you cannot help but want to know how he came to be in that cell. On his journey from the cellar in his childhood home, Socrates comes across a miscellaneous collection of people, each vivified by Gaby Link and Alan Morris. This pair perform with chameleonic flair and flavour. Link’s talent for accents and Morris’ hyperactivity provide comic relief from the sad, dark tale that Socrates narrates, and serve as a foil to his innocence in the corrupt world he has been thrust into. Through them he learns of the spoils of affluence, the confusion of philosophy and the complexities of romance. The play’s themes and messages are diverse and are made accessible through the interplay between these characters. Character, costume, scene and prop changes take place in and around the box, the focal point of the set, as a deliberate exposure of the mechanics of theatre. This over-the-top theatricality cleverly parallels the state of play Socrates is constantly caught up in. It is all a game of role-play to him. In his pursuit of employment he imitates the verbose clichés of Professor Plank, his adoptive father and closest friend. Here Holt comments in a wider sociological context on the superfluities of academic speech. Like Holt’s recent works, Clean Skins and The Von Kleist Show, the interweaving of songs is prevalent in this production. Rick Ballan's music is skilfully composed and sounds beautiful, with simple lyrics synonymous to the simplicity Socrates exhibits. His character is musically inclined, carrying and playing a recorder throughout the play. And when he sings, it is as a child at play would. The juxtaposition of the rough timbre of his voice with the sweet melodies is hauntingly resonant. Socrates wipes the chalk border away. Scrubs anxiously at the silverfish. You wonder at his interaction with an imagined Professor Plank. Has the whole story been merely a construct of his imagination? The ghosts of his past lure him into the box. Close him inside. The lights fade to black. All the role-play, banter and comedy culminate in this dismal end. It starts and ends in caged solitude. TAP GALLERY, 278 Palmer St Darlinghurst Opens Tuesday 23 September at 8pm Plays until Sunday October 5 (all sessions start at 8pm) Tickets: Adult $25, Conc. $20, NIDA students and Sydney University students $10