THEATRE: TOT MOM
Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh and American talk-show host Nancy Grace have at least one thing in common: a fascination with lying. What else can be scraped from the bottom of humanity’s barrel than lies; their shadowy subterfuges, sinister criminal manifestations, dirty sheets and pots of political whitewash. In Tot Mom, Nancy Grace and Steven Soderbergh ‘meet’ head on in a production that will be seen on Sydney soils only; whether that’s due to Sydney’s luck or so Soderbergh can avoid any compensation payouts to the family depicted in America, it is unsure. Either way, it’s a show that is sure to become what Soderbergh hopes will be a ‘discussion point’.
To date, Soderbergh’s films have grappled either directly or indirectly with the line we all tread between truth and fiction; 1989’s Palme d’Or winning Sex, Lies and Videotape (Inter-familial intercourse, anyone?); 2000’s Erin Brockovich (Government: “This water is pure, we swear!” Erin: “Hogwash!”), and the Oscar-scooping Traffic (Everyone stuck fender-first in some serious drug corruption). Nancy Grace, a prosecutor turned TV personality, is herself no stranger to lies. Her show mines the depths of real-world depravities, Grace cast as an avenging angel, spearheading a campaign for victims that comes out one part Judge Judy one part Law & Order. She trades on her history as a victim of crime – at 19, her fiancée was murdered. Grace has since told the tale of the trauma in her book, and yet some aspersions have been cast on her story, piling uncertainty onto a career dogged by claims of misconduct and plagiarism. Nonetheless, she is a powerful force in hallowed halls of TV-justice; and, as is shown in Tot Mom, that may be most important of all.
The Tot Mom case is so fresh, it hasn’t even been trialled in the US yet (it is slated for June 2010) and yet it is so horrific it has captured the imagination of a media-savvy, histrionic-weary American public, hook line and sinker. In June 2008 toddler Caylee Anthony disappeared. A month later, her grandmother reported it to the authorities. It is this month gap that troubles and tantalises – why didn’t the mother, Casey, say anything? Was the odd smell in her carboot really old, stale pizza as alleged or that of poor Caylee, en route to her final resting place? It is ripe for Hollywood – and certainly, in short time Nancy Grace pounced, turning the case into her personal crusade … or perhaps more accurately, personal circus. The rest, is history – in the making. Tot Mom is a kind of ‘theatre vérité’ take on the proceedings, resulting in what Soderbergh told the cast would be something, “That people will watch … and go to the bar and discuss what they saw.” Including actual audio clips, transcripts, court documents and police reports, Soderbergh dubbed Tot Mom as a ‘happening’ rather than traditional play. Actor Genevieve Hegney (who fronts a host of key players) says, “All the other actors play a variety of journalists, psychoanalysts, callers, defence attorneys, FBI investigators, all based on real people, so we spent quite a lot of time watching the actual show and You Tubing them so we represent them as accurately as possible.” Nancy Grace, portrayed by Essie Davis, appears only on a large screen, while the other ‘characters’ are on stage physically – but don’t interact. “The fact of the matter is, how much right does the media have to take these things and sensationalise them?” asks Hegney. It seems ironic that this question is being asked in a play that is cashing in on this very fascination, before any guilty verdict has even been cast, in a country that doesn’t even screen the Nancy Grace show. Hopefully, this moral uncertainty will come off as more truth than lies … either way, as Soderbergh predicts, you’ll definitely be discussing it over a stiff drink afterwards.
Dec 23-Jan 31, Sydney Theatre Company, $30-74, 9250 1777 or sydneytheatre.com.au
