This Bitter Earth

The rules of sangria safe space are simple enough. One must tell a sordid truth or truths in front of a group of quasi strangers. The more salacious, the better. It’s the type of hostel icebreaker that forges lifelong friendships. In Chris Edwards’ razor-sharp comedy This Bitter Earth, the game is a catalyst for typifying an anthology of millennial crises.

Now showing as part of the Midsumma Festival, This Bitter Earth examines a patchwork of queer people leading quite regular, queer lives. Yes, there is talk of dating apps. Yes, there is talk of dick pics. Yes, there is talk of the daily dilemmas of dating one or five people at a time. (Life can be tough.) Director Riley Spadaro takes these various threads, and with a tremendously entertaining cast, weaves it into an effortless audience experience.

‘We see a generation of people struggling to connect with each other as there’s this looming, ever-present sense of twenty-first century despair hovering over our heads at all times … I want to take stock of our current queer Australian landscape, let my generation actually see itself on stage,’ says writer Chris Edwards.

Told through a series of vignettes, the show opens with a guy (Matthew Predny) regurgitating his first sexual experience in Sydney. It begins with a busker belting Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ and ends with vomiting all over the floor, couch and the anonymous closeted guy he is in the middle of hooking up with. While it lands its punchlines, it was nothing compared to the later tales.

In the next scene, we watch a marriage proposal unfold. Well, rather, implode. Michael Cameron and Alex Stylianou play to their strengths as the couple push and pull, and debate whether they truly love each other, or whether they love the idea of being in a committed relationship.

The crown jewel of the show was Sasha Simon, Elle Mickel and Ariadne Sgouros’s witty, intelligent and so on point depiction of a group of friends who want the best for each other, but aren’t afraid of serving some very hard truths.

If you are looking for a tight, 65-minute comedy, the last thing This Bitter Earth will do is leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth.

This Bitter Earth
Theatre Works, 14 Acland Street, St Kilda, 3182
Till Sunday, 2 February 2020
midsumma.org.au/whats-on/events/this-bitter-earth

Images: Morgan Moroney / Bryn Chapman Parish