Gillian Cosgriff shares a workshop version of her remarkable upcoming Australian musical
Presented by: Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Reviewed: 15 June, 2023
A new Australian musical is an exciting thing, especially since we have so few that have made it into the mainstream musical theatre circuit, and seeing a work in progress is even more exciting. Audiences were privileged to witness a reading of The Fig Tree, musical-in-progress by multi-talented performer, musician and comedian Gillian Cosgriff.
The reading featured Cosgriff herself as protagonist Olivia, Jamie Hornsby as her partner Tom, Lachlan Williams as the ‘other man’ Elliott, and Philippa Lynas as Olivia’s sister. Virginia Gay featured as a sort of narrator, providing the scenes and stage directions to assist with context for the audience. Music was provided by Alex Wignall on keys and Jordan White who created pre-recorded arrangements to flesh out the songs musically.
The plot features a couple in their 30s, Tom and Olivia, deciding whether or not to have a baby. Tom is keen; Olivia less so. Eventually they decide to take a 6-week break to ‘sow their wild oats’ before settling down and making the big decision. Things take a turn when Olivia meets Elliott, a former student of Tom’s and now in his mid 20s, and the two hit it off, though the rules dictate no hooking up with someone either Tom or Olivia already know.
The title of the musical comes from a Sylvia Plath quote: “I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree…” In The Bell Jar, Plath describes a fig tree where each fig represents a different possible future, but the character starving to death because they were unable to choose between the countless options available. Fig trees, both metaphorically and physically, feature in the story, both as an actual fig tree in Olivia’s yard, and in the sense of Olivia struggling to make a choice.
Cosgriff’s script is equal parts witty and showing depth. The dialogue is purposeful and has a natural flow, and was performed beautifully by the talented cast. The songs, mostly in a pop/jazz fusion style, were catchy and rhythmic with story-driven lyrics. The script mostly flowed well from dialogue into song. It did feel as though some of the songs may not be quite finished, and there was a particularly long stretch of dialogue early on that feels like it will probably contain a song later on, but this is the nature of a work in progress.
Cosgriff cruelly left the audience hanging at the end of the performance. The reading ended after a lovely ballad between Olivia and Elliott, leaving the audience uncertain of the resolution of Olivia’s indecision. While I think the open ended nature of stopping where it did has a certain poetry to it, allowing the audience to come to their own decisions, there is apparently an ending currently in the works.
Overall, this is an exciting and touching new Australian work. Theatregoers ought to keep a close eye on the future development of The Fig Tree, which has the potential to become the next Australian classical musical.
Reviewed by Kristin Stefanoff
Photo credit: Claudio Raschella
Venue: The Banquet Room, Adelaide Festival Centre
Season: Ended
Duration: 1 hr 20 min
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