Things That Give A Hot Feeling

Family get-togethers are usually wonderful times when everyone can relax, forget about the drudgery of work and school and just enjoy each other’s company. Well not in Things That Give a Hot Feeling, a new Fringe Festival show written by RMIT’s Chloe Martin and presented by Daily Debutante.

After opening with the rather innocent image of widow Helen Dinner (Melina Wylie) pouring cordial into four small cups, Martin delves into some darker territory, displaying a family of misfits who have no shortage of secrets.

So why is the Dinner family getting together on the front lawn on a beautiful day anyway? It quickly becomes apparent that they intend to scatter the ashes of Helen’s deceased husband in an effort to appropriately mark the occasion and receive some much-needed closure. However, solemnity doesn’t exactly leap off the stage, as Helen’s two daughters and son (well technically three daughters as the son has had “the snip”) are each wrapped up in their own troubled world. Louise (a wonderfully melodramatic Hannah Quinn) is coming off a rocky breakup and has just been diagnosed with gonorrhea, Genie (Chloe Martin clearly relishing in the show’s most physical role) is desperate for a breast reduction so she can nail an impending audition and Gabe (Oliver Farrell) is still coming to terms with life as a woman. As Helen tries desperately to hold her family together we also find out she is not immune to such chaos in her own life as she reveals a rather bruised conscience.

This play is a short family drama about the scars, both external and internal, that we carry with us everyday and the dark urges that overcome us when we want something more than anything else. Perhaps this is the titular ‘hot feeling’ Martin is referring to. It can’t be denied that Martin has got a keen eye for characterization, as each member of the Dinner family bring their own brand of lively absurdity to the significant occasion. Martin’s engaging script, which deals with dark notions of gender ambiguity and death, is very well constructed and the subject matter is handled in a way that is simultaneously sensitive and subtly comic. An early highlight is the uproarious interplay between the two curly-haired sisters which escalates into a climactic, farcical mid-point when things don’t exactly go to plan with the scattering of the ashes. Oliver Farrell positively shines as the tall transsexual, Gabe, and Melina Wylie also gives the controlling Helen an added depth and pathos.

The beauty of Fringe theatre is it’s intimate setting, which allows writers and directors to present eccentric, quirky ideas that perhaps wouldn’t translate as well in a larger space. Whilst Things That Give a Hot Feeling achieves this strong intimate feel, at times (and at a couple of crucial moments) pieces of dialogue taper off and become lost within all the chaos. The show’s pace also suffers at times when more and more secrets are piled on top of each other. However it must be said that the predominantly young ensemble do complement each other nicely on stage and the performances adequately reflect the poignant quirkiness of Martin’s writing and vision.

There’s rarely anything flashy about Fringe shows but that isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, many artists use the Fringe Festival as a springboard towards other projects and as a vessel for exploring new theatrical ideas. Things That Give a Hot Feeling certainly shows a lot of promise for all concerned and for Daily Debutante, the company that’s presenting the show. Daily Debutante is a wonderful initiative that aims at supporting theatre makers from Australian regional and rural areas towards making new, experimental pieces of theatre. Judging by the amount of talent on offer here from Chloe Martin and her talented cast in Things That Give a Hot Feeling, clearly there must be something about that country air.