Image: Photo: Mark Banks
Amanda (Amylea Griffi) is under arrest for something she’s really not sure of with only the unwitting help of her two arresting officers (Paul Armstrong and Elizabeth MacGregor) to help her figure it all out while she’s locked up.
This is the starting point of the new play Amanda by multi-award-winning writer and director Mark Langham. It focuses on one of the oldest debates in psychology, that of nature versus nurture, in a new way with Langham’s customary wit and directness.
Do we learn to become who we are today through a lifetime of experience or do we simple live out our lives based on inherited traits?
Actor Paul Armstrong, who plays a Senior Sergeant with a mediocre career in the police force, says his character’s path also reflects the theme because of “the choices and compromises he has made and people make in general”.
“He’s conservative and hates change but feels like he has missed out on a lot because of his own sense of fear of the world,” Armstrong says.
The contrast between a frustrating sense of helplessness and displays of interpersonal power are explored as the audience discovers more about the characters during the central investigation. (CN)
May 13-18, Downstairs Theatre, TAP Gallery, 278 Palmer St, Darlinghurst, $15-25, trybooking.com/81259
