Who Are You Supposed To Be Review

Theatre Review by Samsara Dunston

What:  Who Are You Supposed To Be

Where:  The Owl & The Pussycat – part of the 2014 Fringe Festival

When:  September 23 – October 5

Written by:  Keith Gow

Performed by: Rob Lloyd and Jennifer Lusk

Who Are You Supposed To Be is the current show in production for playwright Keith Gow and is playing at The Owl and The Pussycat in Richmond until October 5.

This play is a two-hander comedy, with some serious social dialogue underpinning the repartee.  Two science fiction geeks meet in the foyer of a convention called Nerd-vana Con, and through the less than subtle use of costuming which occurs in those environments, recognise each other as Dr Who fanatics.

The original season for this play was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013.  The subject matter and timing were apropos as the world was waiting with bated breath for the official announcement of who the new (12^th) Doctor would be.

There was a lot of public debate at the time about whether the new Doctor would – or could – be female and this is the discussion which opens the play.  Lusk (as Ash) enters in full costume as Peter Davison (the 5^th Doctor), and Lloyd (as Gene) comes up to her affronted that she has chosen to dress as a Doctor rather than one of his endless line of female companions.

This leads to a discussion about the relative merits of the companions and then to the presence of women in science fiction universes in general.  The banter is quick and clever and light, but pointed when it needs to be.

It turns out these two people know each other from the twittersphere and the bloggoverse so there becomes a reason and connection for them to continue to run into each other throughout the conference and  maintain contact and develop a relationship.  This is a great addition of detail.  It means we don’t spend the rest of the show wondering why on earth they wouldn’t just ignore each other after that initial meeting.

The structure of the play is in four parts, one scene for each day of the conference.  This works well because it allows for the use of anticipation and then completion along the course of the play in a way which rarely happens in the theatre form.  We also get to see the conference programme on the wall right from the start, so we can constantly refer to it to confirm timelines and anticipate what is coming up.  It gives us a bit of a feeling that we are actually at the convention ourselves.

The witty references, to not just Dr Who but the entire science fiction and fantasy multiverse collection, are quick and multitudinous and it becomes a little game for the audience to see if we can keep up.  Oh, yes, there are Monty Python jokes in there too...

As well as all this geek fetish fun there is still the gender discussion happening.  Lusk ‘can’t’ dress as a Doctor, not only because the Doctor has never been a woman, but also because women can’t be real science fiction fans.  There is a panel discussion on ‘fake geek females’ who only come to these conferences to dress as ‘slave’ Princess Leias in order to show off their bodies.  At one point Ash asks what their nefarious might be after doing that...Gene has no answer.

Lusk plays a feisty woman who treks across the world to meet ‘her’ Doctor.  It nearly doesn’t happen as she suffers from an anxiety disorder and has a panic attack just at the moment her dream would be realised. 

I have to say, I didn’t think this part of the story line was convincing or particularly pertinent.  Shyness would have been enough to foil the meeting, and Lusk does not play the anxiety with any sense of true understanding so it kind of falls flat. 

Lusk has been playing this role since the beginning and her energy and timing are superb, but she is starting to anticipate what is coming next, which means we as the audience loose the element of surprise in the journey ourselves.  Her performance is a bit too much like a well worked routine.

Lloyd is fun as the blogging geek, and has found mannerisms that are certainly cliché, but also establish his status socially and personally very quickly and easily.  The journey for this character is to stop hiding in these make believe worlds developed as a shield since adolescence.  He learns that he needs to be real with the people around him every so often if he doesn’t want to be lonely or a loner his whole life.

Lloyd actually looks a bit like David Tennant and has a performance history of playing the 10^th Doctor.  It is wonderful when, in the final scene, he comes out in that costume.  Nerdy fun, but really satisfying.

The show ends with a wonderful reference duel reminiscent of magic fights between Merlin and Morgana, or Harry and Voldemort.  It is like a fast money round in a game show, and was the perfect rounding off.

Gow has crafted a really witty play here, full of accurately researched trivia and a true understanding of the nature of people involved in these mega-conventions.  He demonstrates an awareness of the various layers of social impact these parallel fantasy universes have on people as individuals and also of how they impact and reinforce societal structures.

The show only runs until Sunday, so make sure you go and see it if you love this stuff.  They have a con-play discount in place.  If you go in costume you get your ticket half price.  It can be any costume, they are not discriminating.