Are You There? is set in an aged-care home, being managed this day by Pia (Melanie Madrigali). Juggling a myriad of inbound calls and complaints while dealing with the residents is a lot, and that’s before her personal life takes a dark turn in the middle of her shift.
One of Pia’s regulars is Colleen (Jane Clifton), a chatty, seemingly assertive, possibly agoraphobic, resident who even after so many years still reflects on her relationship with her mother. And then there’s Lauren (Rosemary Johns), adrift in mind and space, asking aloud in varying degrees of gentle desperation, “Are you there?”
Josh McNeil’s set design is simple but effective, a large piece of office brutality contained by small stylish touches. A melamine workstation dominates the space, while a scattering of pebbles line all four sides of the stage. Above the action hang a multitude of lamps, giving a nice framing to the story as it unfolds.
Melanie captured Pia’s growing stress and frustration and worries well. The dark clouds growing around Pia certainly test her patience, but she never loses a hold of the care and compassion she has for her residents in grounded, engaging performance.
Jane was a delight as Colleen, bringing some well-received levity (for the audience, not so much for Pia) to proceedings. It was lovely work as she navigated her way from light-hearted anecdotes to revealing some of the more difficult aspects of Colleen’s past.
Stillness and absence are not easy things to portray, especially when your character is irrevocably in the grip of dementia. While not literally still, Lauren has poses she repeats and holds for a time, such as arms up and out in supplication, or clinging to herself in an attempt at comfort. Rosemary’s performance was committed and moving as the events of the play orbit around her.
It’s likely a consequence of the amount of true crime that surrounds us, across various platforms and media, that you begin to assume the script is going to go darker (whether it’s with Pia’s story, or wondering who Colleen lost and whether it’s connected with her not wanting to go outside) that actually does. But the fact it doesn’t is nice.
The most admirable element of Irene Korsten’s script are the glimpses she gives us of Lauren’s inner world. While it contains more movement and metaphor, it doesn’t let the audience avoid the fact that Lauren is ultimately alone in her memory, fading in a way she will never return from.
With the days finally beginning to lengthen, Are You There? is a lovely theatrical sorbet that doesn’t fail to entertain.
Are You There?
Explosives Factory, Rear Laneway 67 Inkerman Street, St Kilda
Performance: Thursday 4 September 2025
Season continues to 13 September 2025
Information and Bookings: www.theatreworks.org.au
Image: Jane Clifton Rosemary Johns and Melanie Madrigali in Are You There? – photo by Hannah Jennings
Review: June Collins