REVIEW: Rice

Michele Lee’s fast-paced two-hander Rice is carried off with great energy by the charismatic Kristy Best, who plays the workaholic Executive Officer Nisha, and Hsiao-Ling Tang, who plays her long-suffering cleaner Yvette, who runs her own business and has a troublesome daughter Sheree, also played by Best.

An employee of Golden Fields, Nisha is trying to establish herself as a serious player by securing an export rice deal with India when the local rice crops fail. Yvette is trying to establish her own business but is distracted by her daughter, who gets into trouble after protesting against Coles’ food practices. The two strike up an unusual friendship after initial conflict about food waste in the office as each finds an interested listener in the other.

The complex narrative also involves several other dramatis personae which Best and Hsiao-Ling carry off with great aplomb, changing character instantaneously and picking up the threads of the narrative without missing a beat.

Director Lee Lewis allows Lee’s script to shine in this high-speed comedy which raises serious questions of global food production, a female perspective on ethical issues and, at the core of the play, the interpersonal relationships on which trust and ethics are founded.

All this is enacted on a miniscule stage which expands or contracts depending on whether it is Nisha’s office or the board room of the Indian Minister.

It’s not surprising that Rice won the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award for 2016-17. It’s a polished work which allows for easy productions, with a small cast, and few stage and costume requirements. All it requires are two confident actors with great delivery to carry it off!

Until Aug 26. SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross. $20-$55+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.griffintheatre.com.au

Reviewed by Irina Dunn