Freudianly speaking, along with our life force we have a death force – a desire for self-destruction – an innate drive that pushes us to things that will lead to our ultimate demise. Alongside Libido, we have ‘Mortido’. These two entwine in Angela Betzien’s new play that has been variously described as a crime-drama, psychological thriller and morality play, all rolled into one.
Mortido is a pulsating ride around the world that ends up in Sydney, in all its various shades of entitlement and decadence. The thread of narcissism holding it together? Cocaine.
Headlining the cast is the great Collin Friels (Death of a Salesman) who plays Grubbe, the hard-bitten cop, intent on taking down a big name player. Tom Conroy (Mother Courage and her Children) who plays Jimmy, is a small time dealer who is central to Grubbe’s plans.
According to Conroy, “the idea for the play began with the idea of charting a gram of cocaine from the coco-leaf in Bolivia across the world and right up the nose of some Eastern Suburbs party-goer”. Dark and disturbing, it taps into the horrors and the reality of violence that sits underneath this party drug. “It begins with a folk tale about a Mexican boy who gets tricked into going into a butcher shop where he gets slaughtered and stitched up with drugs, which is a pretty heavy image,” said Conroy.
Though dark humour abounds, Mortido issues an undertone of real judgment about who we are as Sydneysiders. As Conroy rightly points out: “so much of the cocaine that finds its way into Australia does so through the bellies of children or desperate women”. (GW)
Until Dec 17, various show times. Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills. $49-72. Tickets & info: belvoir.com.au or 02 9699 3444.
