By Mikayla van Loon
A depiction of married life and all its ups and downs, is about to grace a Mooroolbark stage when it heads to Melbourne as part of an Australian tour.
‘Wallflowering’, a play written by Peta Murray and directed by Denny Lawrence, showcases the story of Peg and Cliff, a couple trying to recreate what has been lost in their marriage.
The former champion ballroom dancing couple must find themselves as individuals before they can find each other once more.
Acclaimed actor Dennis Coard plays the role of Cliff and said having worked with the director and his co-star Jenny Seedsman before, it was a no brainer to come on board.
In between the moments of performing the perfect foxtrot, the play explores the nuances of “an ordinary, suburban, middle aged” married couple who reminisce about their younger days.
“As the years have gone on, they let the dancing slip but also their marriage doesn’t have the spark that it used to and they’re out of step with each other,” Coard said.
“That’s the metaphor of the dance in the play that as they got out of step on the dance floor, they’re also out of step with each other in their married life. So this play is about them trying to regain the spark and the dance and the love in their marriage.”
Taking on a realistic view of what marriage can be, Coard said at the time Murray was writing the play, women and society were fighting back against the roles previously enforced on men and women.
“She wrote it about 20 years ago now and it also encapsulates the roles we can fall into in a marriage, the division of roles,” he said.
“Back when she wrote it there was a real challenge to traditional roles being played by men or women. So there are a lot of books about women reclaiming their space in the world and in marriage.”
Coard said as Peg begins to step away from the “housewife” role she’d been thrusted into, Cliff is taken by surprise and is not quite ready to change the dynamic of their relationship.
As a two person play, Coard said “it’s a big piece” but it is broken up with the visuals of young professional dancers portraying the days gone by of Peg and Cliff.
“The two dancers portray our past in a way. So there’s a big screen where, when we’re thinking about it or remembering it, there’s this lovely footage of the two professional dancers behind us.
“Then as that fades, it comes back to our story. It’s the dreams we had of being in that world, and how we’d love to recapture that but we can’t go back in time, but we can go forward and be back in step together as we go into the future.”
Adding the screen behind the stage, Coard said, brings a beautiful element to the show and allows himself and Seedsman to have a costume change in between scenes.
Having been touring ‘Wallflowering’ right across the country, Coard said it has been well received by many but he’s excited to return to the Mooroolbark Community Centre stage.
“It’s a beautiful show and everyone will get something out of it. They’ll recognise themselves in some way and there’s some beautiful old music from as time goes by and songs like that,” he said.
“We’re so glad that we’re coming to Mooroolbark because it’s a lovely venue and what we need more than anything is a beautiful audience to share it with us.”
‘Wallflowering’ will be appearing on Thursday 20 April at 2pm at the Mooroolbark Community Centre. To book, go to www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Experience/Events/Wallflowering-by-Peta-Murray or call 1300 368 333.
