Young playwright surprises with mastery, poise and skill
Review of play ‘Cutting Onions’ — written and directed by Nadia Sirninger Rankin.
Presented by Running with Scissors Theatre at The MC Showroom, Melbourne, Australia, June 2024
When new and authentic artists arrive in society, who express their artistry differently, and who help us all more clearly see the true state of our world — and to better understand its subterranean dynamics — it as though the air shifts.
The play ‘Cutting Onions’ written and directed by Nadia Sirninger Rankin, supported by Assistant Director Nicholas Reynolds and an extraordinarily skilled cast and crew is this type of play: a generational statement.
Cutting Onions delights its audience with unexpected creativity, but also in its bravery in conveying some hard truths about the state of young people grappling with gender roles, relationships, power, self-actualisation and starting families. The surprising news is that, despite technological advancement, despite feminism, despite focus on LGBTI and transgenderism, ‘old gender’ issues are new again.
Theatrical dimensions
One of the marks of a great producer, surely, is the capacity to assemble a talented creative team whose skills seamlessly blend to create worlds and convey story. A tribute to the judgment and skill of Nadia Sirninger Rankin, the play ‘Cutting Onions’ — like an onion — has many strong, powerful layers.
First, there is the stand-out script and dialogue. It is refreshing to watch actors simply act and tell the story through actions. Rankin reminds script writers that wall-to-wall dialogue can be tiring for an audience; that story can be told through actions, facial expressions, sound and set dynamics as much as it can through words. When it needs to, the tempo of dialogue increases, but the restraint and control of the dialogue is masterful.
The dialogue is also clever: it is realistic and relatable to average Australians, while, nonetheless capturing the subtle way psychological power is wielded.
The sound, designed by Rohan Dimsey, is so impactful, it is practically a major character. The audience find themselves fascinated, surprised and lulled into various worlds and states of mind through the sound track. The sound track alone is reason to see this play; in fact, the musician sitting next to me advised that this is precisely why he had come to watch it.
The casting is perfect and both lead roles are performed convincingly. ‘The man’ is performed by Sam Corr and ‘the woman’ is performed by Julia Slater-Allan. Both characters appear effortlessly like people ‘we would all know’ which makes the play more poignant.
The set and props are delightfully inventive and communicative. Again, dialogue is not relied upon to convey story. Like the sound track, the ‘stuff’ of modern living also becomes a character in this play. This approach echoes the metaphysical philosophy of ‘new materialism’ where matter is understood as being ‘vibrant’ or alive at the molecular level.
The set crew: Lima Mckay, Doug McKay and Cheryl Martin; the stage management team, led by Liz Everett and comprising Jaime Watts; Anastasia Swadling and Amanda Dhammanarachchi and the graphic design and property creation team: Sophie Sirninger Rankin and Patricia Sirninger all deserve credit.
All of the above combine to create a refreshingly new and vital theatrical experience. These theatrical features enhance the story rather than distract from it.
The Message
But what is the story about? Cutting Onions doesn’t preach or ‘tell’; it shows the experience and perspective of one young woman as she begins coupled-up adult life. ‘The woman’ finds herself subtlety oppressed and trivialised in a relationship, which impacts her mental health. The play portrays a couple who cannot cross a vast chasm of mismatched expectations. Both are shown as having been shaped by their wider culture, one which pulls them apart and alienates them from each other.
The play opens up a discussion about how the current generation of young people (in their 20s) approach the issues of relationships, partnering in household management and raising families. What this play alerts society to is that the question of how (cis) men and women relate to each other, in relationship, in conversation and in the home is still troubling and confusing, and that these problems can lead to deeply unhappy couples and unfulfilled lives.
The play can also be seen as a feminist ‘explainer’ calling for understanding during a time in which online misogynistic content is rising and there is a backlash against some aspects of feminism.
In terms of criticism, some of the house domestic jobs scenes could have been trimmed or tightened a little; while effectively initially, too much repetition and the trick loses its shine. Male viewers may find the portrayal of the man as the ‘bad one’ uncomfortable, dated and an unfair characterisation of ‘all men’ however, it is worth reiterating that this is a portrayal of one relationship and one woman’s experience or one ‘type’ of dynamic which exists in modern society. Perhaps the script could have added a phone call or similar sentence showing another male with a different perspective, for example, “John’s wife is a GP, she is away supporting the bushfires right now…” However, most viewers would understand this is a snapshot of a young woman’s experience, not a holistic sociological commentary or documentary.
Overall, this play offers a refreshing theatrical experience and offers important insights and perspectives on a topic under intense cultural debate. It’s worth keeping an eye on what Rankin and the team do next.
Presented by Running with Scissors Theatre at The MC Showroom
· Writer, Producer, Director, and Property Creator: Nadia Sirninger Rankin
· Assistant Director and Production Consultant: Nicholas Reynolds
· Production and Stage Manager: Liz Everett
· Assistant Stage Managers: Amanda Dhammanarachchi, Anastasia Swadling, and Jaime Watts
· Performers: Julia Slater-Allan and Sam Corr
· Set: Lima Mckay, Doug McKay and Cheryl Martin
· Lighting/Sound Designer and Operator: Rohan Dimsey
· Graphic Design and Property Creation: Sophie Sirninger Rankin and Patricia Sirninger
