Penned by legendary Australian playwright David Williamson, Managing Carmen boasts a relatively killer premise – AFL prodigy superstar discovers a fondness for cross-dressing, he and agent deal with consequences. Unfortunately, its consistently dogged by Williamson's apparent refusal to realistically engage with his subject matter.
Written as a satire, Carmen aspires to be sharp and edgy but is so hilariously out of touch with the world it's lampooning that its observations largely fall flat. Williamson doesn't seem to adequately understand contemporary sports journalism, public relations or even cross-dressing. As such, his musings on the respective subjects range from ill-considered to borderline offensive (transvestism is, throughout, positioned as an addiction brought on by psychological trauma).
The characters charged with representing public relations (John Batchelor's Rohan Swift) and journalism (Greg McNeill's Max Upfield) are so bafflingly woeful at their respective gigs, one wonders if Williamson has ever met either breed of professional. As an example, the entire second act of the work wouldn't even exist if Swift had simply asked Upfield for proof. Hell, most of the play wouldn't even happen if Swift didn't inexplicably continue to obey the whims of the journalist he outright despises. It's thoroughly lazy writing.
Performance-wise, it's actually quite well-handled. Richard Roberts' set is fantastic and the cast is great (Claire Lovering stealing the show as our footballer's love interest, Jess). The comedic timing is a little loose on opening night but, really, that's to be expected. No, the problem is solely Williamson's script. With a reputation built on realism, it's truly disappointing to see him deliver something so fatuous.
Running at Playhouse QPAC until Sunday 4 November
