On a blue-lit stage, bare-chested Hypnos (Daniel Monks) lies awake, pondering. Sleepily, he slides a fond arm across the slumbering form beside him, hidden by the sheets, then falls asleep.
The first production in the New Fitz 2017 season is Charles O'Grady's Are We Awake, a tender look at a relationship splitting at the seams. It's early in the morning, and Hypnos' partner Endymion (Aleks Mikic) is getting ready for his flight to Melbourne, where he'll be starting a new job in a city far away. Hypnos is meant to be following after him, but the plan is complicated by Hypnos' chronic illness and his inability to move away from everyone and everything he knows: doctors, friends and family.
O'Grady's consistent ability to write messy, complex humans dealing with messy, complex situations shines through in Are We Awake. With Hypnos practically bedridden by his illness, the genuine affection binding the two together is constantly tested by Endymion's struggle to balance his role as boyfriend and carer. Monks and Mikic bring the intimate space of the Old Fitzroy Theatre to life, drawing the audience in with their heartfelt performances.
It's not often theatre deals with chronic illness in such a direct and earnest way. Are We Awake is a visceral, emotional play that refuses to skirt around issues and relationship dynamics largely left unexplored in other works.
Red Line Productions presents Are We Awake, until 11 Mar at the Old Fitz Theatre.
