This is Living
Check your emotional baggage at the door because this self-described gang of queers, singles, and divorcees is going on holiday. Hugh has organised a fabulous weekend away for his partner and their best girlfriends in Hepburn’s finest to escape a year from hell. But even deli meats, medicinal hydroponics and soaking in spring water can’t fix everything. Try as you might to float on the surface, life has a funny way of bubbling up—and over.
Writer Ash Flanders is notorious for crafting caustic comedy that makes you laugh ‘til you hurt, only this time he’s gone somewhere completely unexpected… the real world. This semi-autobiographical play is the saltiest, sweetest, and most honest look at love and friendship you’ll see.
Because when shit hits the fan it’s your chosen family who’ll clean you up—once they’ve stopped laughing. So pack an overnighter and enjoy the only safe seat on a getaway you won’t want to get away from. This Is Living!
Malthouse Theatre 2023
Set & Costume Design Matilda Woodroofe
Direction Matthew Lutton
Writer Ash Flanders
Lighting Design Paul Jackson
Photos Pia Johnston
Akin to the grand set of a ’90s sitcom, the meticulously demarcated domestic spaces are competing stages to the unfurling action, with a hallway providing the dramatic backdrop to characters’ swift entrances and exits. Mirroring her set design, Matilda Woodroofe’s costuming is impeccable. As the characters switch between outfits distinct to their eccentricities and foibles, they shift between different modes of being.
— The Age
Woodroofe’s costumes are terrific; with an endearingly daggy pair of pyjamas or a smoking black evening dress, they cleverly illustrate character quirks and psychological states
Saying “highly stylised set” is saying too little. The set for this production is one of the best professional sets I’ve seen in Melbourne.
