Jude, Adele and Wendy have been friends for ages – decades even – and with the recent death of their old friend, Sylvie, they’ve been given the job of cleaning out her beach house for it to be sold.
The trio arrive at the house on Christmas Eve but not everyone is on the same page.
Jude, a former restaurateur, just wants to get it done and get the hell out (“This is NOT a holiday”); gentle academic Wendy brings her beloved geriatric dog Finn and wants to take her time and reminisce as they examine Sylvie’s house and their shared lives, while Adele – an ever-optimistic actress past her prime – would like everyone to hit the beach and celebrate Christmas and their friendship together while they still can.
The play has been adapted from Charlotte Wood’s popular 2020 novel of the same name by playwright and screenwriter Sue Smith, and directed by Sarah Goodes. As it progresses, the cloak of success that Adele and Jude wear starts to fray as we learn Jude has been having an affair with a married man who has ‘kept’ her for the past 40 years, and Adele has been kicked out of home by her much younger partner just as acting parts seem to be drying up for her. Only Wendy – who is at work on her latest academic treatise – seems to still have a respected place in the world, but admits to the others that her work has never been as good since her husband and editor, Lance died 16 years ago.
All three actresses do a good job of embodying their characters: Belinda Giblin as the vain but warm-hearted Adele, Melitia Jurisic as the hippyish but still sharp-minded Wendy and Toni Scanlan as no-nonsense Jude.
The friends encounter Joe Gillespie (Roman Delo), a brash young wunderkind director whom Adele knows (although tellingly, he forgets her name). Adele gives him helpful advice about a character in the play he is casting but is embarrassed when she belatedly realises he has no intention of offering the role to her. As a jarring reminder of their younger selves when they all presumably had power and influence, Joe highlights their growing irrelevance in a patriarchal world where youth is revered.
The elderly Finn comes to life as a puppet operated by Keila Terencio, which works well – at times, I was almost convinced a dog was on the stage. A simple set of picnic table and chairs along with a designer chair gifted Sylvie by Jude and a small pond is sufficient to serve all scenes.
There are happy moments and gentle laughs to be had, including Wendy’s inability to get up off the floor after a bit too much champagne, requiring her two friends to hoist her; and Adele’s joy at decorating the house for a stinking hot Christmas Day while she happily trills Winter Wonderland.
For women of a certain age, The Weekend will resonate. The darker themes of ageism, irrelevance and imminent death are sadly all too true for many seventysomething women in our society. But the play ultimately also celebrates optimism, hope and the deep strength of female friendship. As ‘glass-half-full’ Adele says to Jude: “Sometimes there’s wonder in the world, don’t you ever see it?”
The Weekend
Belvoir St Theatre
5 August – 10 September, 2023
belvoir.com.au
