NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT
Unwrap a story of family, greed and gift-giving. The Present opens to audiences this June at Brown's Mart Theatre.
WORDS LISA PELLEGRINO
IMAGE DAN GRANT
THERE ARE TWO types of people in this world – those who love gifts, and those who think they're absolute trash!
Friends (and theatre-makers) Jeffrey Jay Fowler and Sarah Reuben are these two kinds of people.
You see, Sarah loves gifts. In fact, she loves everything about them.
“I love them so much,” she beams.
“I love giving them. I love receiving them.”
Jeff, on the other hand ... Well, he thinks gifts represent a materialistic, capitalist sinkhole, threatening to swallow you whole, taking your soul and your money down with it!
With two very different opinions, they did what any other odd couple would do. They wrote a play about it.
The Present debuts at Brown's Mart this June, directed by Jeffrey Jay Fowler and stars Sarah Reuben and Will Bartolo.
“It is about a brother and sister trying to get a Christmas and Birthday present for their mother for the first time ever because their elder sister has said she's not doing it anymore,” Director Jeffrey Jay Fowler explains.
“She's not taking on the labour of being the gift buyer because their mother is consistently ungrateful for the gifts she gets but demands that they be given every year.”
This sets the backdrop to a much deeper (and very funny) tale.
The Present explores themes of greed, ritual and family with heart and humour.
Fowler says that we often try to impress people with physical objects, but this can distract us from what's really going on between people.
The story follows Petra (played by Sarah Reuben) and Troy (played by Will Bartolo) – half-twins with different fathers. It also follows a mother and son with unresolvable trust issues, a man with a rare gene that makes him extra tasty to sharks and his long-lost daughter who loves the beach.
The characters navigate some very important conversations. Like our desire to accumulate more and more, even when everything else is telling us not to.
For a gift-lover like Sarah Reuben, this can be hard to reconcile.
“The environment, the world ... it's dying,” Reuben says.
“And the world is full of so much junk. It's suffocating, yet we just keep buying more and more. Why do we just sit there blankly and watch the world fill up with junk and why do we want things?”
Instead of ridding the world of gifts, Reuben offers an alternative solution.
“I think gifts should be really intentional and to buy things that people really want and will use … and it doesn't have to be junk.
It can be things that are really meaningful and actually reflect the relationship that you have with the person,” she says.
Fowler, on the other hand, believes that presents are much more loaded than that.
“I think when you give someone a gift, you tell them who you think they are,” he says.
“And I grew up getting a lot of gifts that were for someone else. I was given footballs and surfboards and cricket sets, things I had really never asked for.”
Jeff says he prefers connection over credit.
“It would mean so much more to me to spend time with someone and actually talk about how we feel about each other, than to give one another trinkets,” he exclaims.
I asked Jeff and Sarah what were the worst gifts they had ever received.
“My sister gave me a voucher for a half-hour massage ... from her ... which had an expiry date!” Rueben laughs. “She was doing a massage course at the time but still ... half an hour with an expiry date?! Get a grip!” Burn.
Sarah never actually received that massage. Double burn.
Jeff laughs to himself as he remembers his worst gift – ugly, dorky clothing. It hurt him deeply. Mainly because he was shocked that someone thought he would wear such a thing.
And the best present? Surprisingly, they had the same answer for once ... a Thermomix!
“Thermomix changes your life,” laughs Fowler.
“It has made my life better in immeasurable ways,” Reuben agrees.
Now, unfortunately you won't receive a Thermomix when you go and see The Present, but you will take away something even better!
“Come because we're really good theatre-makers and we make really fun shows that always have a lot of heart and are very entertaining,” promises Fowler. “We want theatres to be fun and to be a great night out.”
So, treat yourself by unwrapping The Present at Brown's Mart. Co-produced by Brown’s Mart and The Last Great Hunt.
It's the best gift you could give yourself this year ... other than a Thermomix!
The Present by Jeffrey Jay Fowler & Sarah Reuben
WHEN TUE 9 JUN – SAT 20 JUN (EXC. 14 & 15 JUN) | 7PM
AT BROWN’S MART THEATRE
COST $48 | $41 SENIOR | $24 CONC
INFO brownsmart.com.au
