OIL caused PETE’S EYEBROWS to form a HIGH ARCH
The Dramatic Premise
It’s Cornwall in 1889. Life is barely sustainable as May and her family endure another dismal English winter. Food is scarce. Warmth is fleeting.
But May is pregnant and the family worry that the child will “either come out dead or hungry”. They lament the desire to stay warm even after the sun has gone down.
But a knock on the door changes their world. A man from a foreign land has a new invention: the kerosene lamp. The oil age has begun.
Photo Credit – Prudence Upton / STC
Now it’s Tehran in 1908. In this time-bending allegory, May has aged little and her daughter, Amy, is only eight.
The British Admiralty is in Iran, doing its darndest to seduce the locals into surrendering their oil reserves through the medium of wine, food and pageantry.
May works as a servant and Amy does her best to get in the way.
Photo Credit – Prudence Upton / STC
Suddenly it’s Hampstead in 1979. A suburban home with a teen sex sub-plot. May is now the CEO of an international oil company. While not fueling the teen sex sub-plot, Amy is haranguing her mother for destroying the planet through the medium of fossil fuels.
But things are falling apart.
The evening news announces the Libyan revolution. And a knock at the door heralds a Libyan emissary demanding a 25% share of the oil company.
But does oil belong to those who own the land in which it dwells or to those with the expertise to extract it?
Photo Credit – Prudence Upton / STC
Now it’s Baghdad in 2021. Amy has spent three years in Iraq with her friend, Aminah. She’s serving her mother’s penance. Yet May, now a former Member of Parliament, finds Amy amongst the burning tires.
In a telling remark, Aminah complains that she must siphon the oil from her car to the generator in her house so that her mother doesn’t have to eat dinner in the dark. Meanwhile, those in the western world leave every light in their houses on, thanks to their insatiable blood lust for Middle-Eastern oil.
Photo Credit – Prudence Upton / STC
Finally, May and Amy are back in Cornwall in 2051. The oil is running out. Mother and daughter must wear heavy overcoats as they endure yet another brutal English winter. They lament the desire to stay warm even after the sun has gone down. Now they must choose between a hot bath and charging the car.
There’s a knock at the door. After berating May for not learning Mandarin, the Chinese guest introduces a new source of power. A new power age has begun.
Photo Credit – Prudence Upton / STC
Sublime Performances, Sublime Production
Oil features a large ensemble case, including national treasure, Anne Tenney (Molly from A Country Practice and Sal Kerrigan from The Castle). They all did a fine job.
Photo Credit – Prudence Upton / STC
But Brooke Satchwell (May) and Charlotte Friels (Amy), were truly transcendent in their lead roles.
Satchwell, in particular, delivered a knockout performance which had my eyebrows in an almost constant high arch.
Photo Credit – Prudence Upton / STC
Friels initially provided well-timed comic relief before ramping up the dramatic tension with her mother as they debated each side of the oil dependence argument.
Photo Credit – Prudence Upton / STC
Kudos, also to set designer, Emma White. The transitions between scenes were seamless and the transformation was very much part of the show.
Credit, here, must also to Paige Rattray for her excellent direction.
Public Service Announcement
Oil was staged “in the round” at Wharf 1 Theatre.
One intriguing aspect of Emma White’s set design is that the performance space was raised via the medium of some very black sand. It meant that every character in the show literally left their carbon-looking footprint on the stage.
If you have seats on the opposite side of the theatre from the entrance, however, tread lightly! In the dark space, the rise of the sand is difficult to spot. Thankfully, some particularly assiduous ushers are present to keep you on the straight-and-narrow approved pathway.
The Moment
In the final scene, set in 2050’s Hamstead, the Chinese guest introduces May and Amy to a new source of power in the form of a glowing pyramid, small enough to rest on the coffee table in the middle of the frigid room.
Photo Credit – Prudence Upton / STC
At first, the audience laughs when the Chinese woman dons some smart-glasses which permit her to instantly translate the breathless Mandarin she was using into English.
But the audience gasps when the source of the new power is slowly revealed. The Chinese woman assures May and Amy that it’s safe and there will be no unforeseen consequences, “that we know of”.
A voiceover reminds us that every empire’s folly is confusing their version of modernity for modernity itself.
And we all sit back in our chairs, rub our chins and contemplate how we can better preserve our scarce natural resources and, perhaps, switch to sources of renewable energy.
Thank you to playwright, Ella Hickson, for a thought-provoking and powerful play.
The Sydney Theatre Company performance of Oil is playing at Wharf 1 until 16 December 2023. For more information:
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