By Erin Free
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
The second installment in legendary Australian playwright, David Williamson’s Jack Manning Trilogy – three works based around the concept of community conferencing, a form of restorative justice designed to bring resolution to certain cases without clogging up the courts – 2001’s A Conversation is without doubt the most intense and explosive of the three plays, a tale of horrific pain and anguish knotted between stories of workplace rage (2000’s Face To Face) and office bullying (2001’s Charitable Intent). As with all three plays, the anchor here is professional mediator, Jack Manning, who has the difficult job of mending fences that are often seemingly smashed beyond repair. He has his work cut out for him in A Conversation, in which Manning arbitrates between two broken families: single mother, Coral, whose adored son, Scott, is in prison for rape and murder; and Derek and Barbara Milsom, whose daughter, Donna, was his tragic victim. Manning is tasked with creating a sense of resolution, understanding, and closure for the two families, but with the inclusion of the highly divisive Lorin – the psychologist who wrongly recommended that Scott be paroled after two previous violent rape convictions – the session soon becomes one defined by anger, pointed accusations, coiled defence, and violently frayed emotions. As the imprisoned Scott’s extended working class family members (his shy, withdrawn brother, Mick; his outspoken, university-educated sister, Gail; and his blustery, self-made businessman uncle, Bob) throw up their defences, Derek and Barbara take brutal aim, creating a virtual hothouse of ragged emotion.
WHY WOULD IT MAKE A GOOD MOVIE?
Though disappointingly little-seen and sadly under-appreciated, Michael Rymer’s 2011 adaptation of David Williamson’s Face To Face was one of the best Australian films of the year, and with A Conversation being an even more thundering piece of theatre, it would make for an equally moving and thought provoking film. It could also be made micro-budget style, just like its predecessor. With issues of victims’ rights and truth-in-sentencing more polarising and headline-grabbing than ever, the play’s themes remain as relevant today as when it was written (if not more so), while its heart-rending human drama is utterly timeless.
WHO SHOULD DIRECT IT?
Director, Michael Rymer (who crafted the masterful 1995 Aussie classic, Angel Baby), did a brilliant job of making Face To Face richly cinematic and consistently involving despite its simple, one-room setting, and also assembled a top notch cast on a barely-there budget, which would make him an obvious and wholly appropriate candidate to helm the follow-up.
WHO SHOULD BE IN IT?
Despite his well-documented off-screen problems, Matthew Newton (pictured above) was excellent as Jack Manning in Face To Face, and should get the chance to play the wily, inherently decent mediator again. Equally plum roles could go to Jacqueline McKenzie and Hugo Weaving (as the shattered but defiant Barbara and Derek Milsom); Toni Collette (as the rough-around-the-edges, deeply conflicted Coral, who blames herself for her son’s crimes); Puberty Blues’ Sean Keenan (as the quiet but insightful Mick); Predestination’s Sarah Snook (as his decidedly more aggressive, politicised sister, Gail); Richard Roxburgh (as their working class hero uncle, Bob); and Justine Clarke (as the flawed but essentially well-meaning psychologist, Lorin).