CHAMPIONS - Old Fitz Theatre (NSW)
Written by Isabella McDermott. Directed by Bali Padda
A worthwhile piece that captures what it’s like to be young and fighting to make your way in the world
Reviewed by Mary Anne Reid
Old Fitz Theatre, Woolloomooloo
Until October 26th, 2024
The production of Champions at the Old Fitz Theatre in Sydney is the Australian premiere of a work by talented young Kiwi playwright Isabella McDermott. The champions of the title are four artists nominated for a prestigious art prize (the Archie) that will deliver the winner $50,000 plus a massive career boost. They have each been given adjoining studio space and six months to produce the new work that will determine which one wins the Archie.
This clever premise brings the tension and suspense needed to drive what is a low-key production of a story with big themes.
Champions, Old Fitz Theatre (2024). Images by Patrick Phillips
All four characters take to the stage at the beginning of the show to deliver a soliloquy about who they are and what it would mean to them to win the Archie. Talitha Parker and Cat Dominguez play the two very different female finalists – confident young Emmie who sees this as the next step in an already promising career, and Claudia, who is introverted and inexperienced but has a strong artistic vision of the sculpture she wants to create and is excited about the chance to test her talent.
Bayley Prendegast shines as the most confident and ruthless of the four characters, who comes from a wealthy family and has already begun to make a name for himself in the art world. “Failure is not an option” he tells us, before proposing to the others that they band together and split the $50,000 four ways. It is shy and hopeful Claudia who rejects his proposal and keeps the competition in play.
The other male finalist, played by Lincoln Vickery, is a photographer whose personal lack of confidence extends to questioning whether his artform is really on the same level as the others.
...truly captures the feeling of what it’s like to be young and fighting to make your way in the world.
The use of monologue at the opening of the show continues throughout the play as the key storytelling device. McDermott deploys some scenes of interaction and dialogue, but mostly it’s this direct-to-audience exposition that steers us through the events of the story. There were moments when I felt this risked the production becoming rather static but on the whole it worked well.
Director Bali Padda has a small space and minimal set to work with – some stools and a leadlight screen to reflect the changing moods of the characters and events through lighting. He works to build colour and tone by drawing us into the hopes and dreams presented by each of the players.
Sexual violence takes centre stage when Emmy is groped by the much older manager of the Archies while attending a dinner for the finalists at his house. This sends her into a downward spiral and eating disorder that threatens her capacity to compete for the prize. To me this is the least successful story strand – even though it deals with a real and present danger, its treatment seems somehow less authentic and more melodramatic than the rest of the work.
McDermott’s play truly captures the feeling of what it’s like to be young and fighting to make your way in the world. What does it take to win in the competitive art business? What happens if you have the chance to make it but you blow it? How does your background and talent equip you to succeed? What is art about anyway? The final reveal of the winner – which was a surprise to me but perhaps not to others – has something to say about each of these questions.
Champions debuted in 2023 in a sold-out and extended season at the Basement in Auckland and McDermott has since been awarded early career funding in New Zealand to develop a new theatre work. The Old Fitz felt like just the right venue to stage her work here in Australia and hopefully we’ll get to see her next one too. This one is well worth catching.
Cast and Creative Team
Playwright: Isabella McDermott
Director & Producer: Bali Padda
Associate Producer: Nelson Lee
Associate Director: Pratha Nagpal
Set Designer: Elle Fitzgerald
Costume Designer: Rita Naidu
Lighting Designer: Tim Hope
Composer / Sound Designer: Prema Yin
Stage Manager: Sophie Jones
Production Manager: Izzy Morrissey
Movement & Intimacy Coordinator: Shondelle Pratt
Casting Director: Kathryn Courtney-Prior
Photographer: Patrick Phillips
Promotional Trailer: Daniel Moxham
Cast (of 4): Cat Dominguez, Talitha Parker, Lincoln Vickery, Bayley Prendegast
This listing is updated as cast/creatives are confirmed in the lead-up to the production, and if there are changes to the team
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