“Everyone can relate to this play. We all have relationships,” says Mayer. “Audiences get to laugh at themselves then talk about the issues afterwards.” Over a weekend therapy retreat conducted by doctors Edwin and Jessica, four couples take a look at their relationship issues and work to resolving them. Needless to say, the men aren’t too happy about spending a weekend discussing their relationships. Mayer actually put his cast through one of these couple therapy sessions in development in order to make sure the piece rang true. Couples premiered over a year ago at the Carlton Courthouse, and has been touring in one-act play festivals since, proving very popular with urban and regional audiences. Moreover, the cast get to profit themselves from some of the insights the play contains.
“We work well together as an ensemble,” notes Mayer. “We enjoy each other’s company and have done for an elongated period of time. We’ve had to replace a couple of cast members along the way.” Having seen the play, it manages to be both accessible and wise at the same time.
“We all have our own idiosyncrasies, our own hypocrisies,” Mayer says. “The thing is to be able laugh at ourselves. We really want people to be entertained and to enjoy themselves. And then walk away talking things over with each other. If we can encourage people to have dialogues about these things then we’ve achieved what we want to achieve.” Mayer sees audience members get involved in the characters’ various dilemmas. “Especially with Rachel, the lawyer character,” he says. “People want to know if she’s really like that.” The play has something to offer everyone who has or has had a partner, and on the night the work can almost perform as a kind of therapy session for audiences in its own right. “They get sucked into the stories,” notes Mayer. “It’s like the audience becomes part of the process; at first they are getting used to what’s happening on stage and then their reactions become part of the drama. It’s accessible and relatable.”
The characters are people we all know – Mayer has brought to life everyman-style characters that seem at once familiar. Eventually, each character gets to display their humanity and dignity, even characters who perhaps might be somewhat unsympathetic to begin with. Like life, there are more to these people than you first realise. Couples! lets the individual stories of the respective relationships speak for themselves. But ultimately, says Mayer, the entertainment element is paramount.
“We’re looking forward to being in the Comedy Festival and performing Couples! in different venues to what we’re used to. It’s a funny theatre piece. Our point of difference is that we’re in the Comedy Festival, but it isn’t stand-up.”
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
