Cost of Living – Melbourne Theatre Company

Gifted post:

I was lucky to be invited to the premiere of Cost of Living, a Melbourne Theatre Company production, last night. I went with my friend and colleague Amelia.

 

A show about class and caring: love and loss, Cost of Living puts disability on the main stage. It was heavy throughout, punctuated with humour for levity.

Brilliantly cast and acted, the set design was stunning, and I loved that some of my friends were involved in the production. The show is an example of authentic casting and a true reflection of wealth, privilege and power.

It stars Rachel Edmonds, Aaron Pederson, Mabel Li and Oli Pizzey Stratford; with Anthea Williams and Alistair Baldwin as Director and Assistant Director., and written by Martyna Majok. (It was also recently shown in Sydney and Brisbane, with a different cast and production team – my friends Dan Daw and Kate Hood were cast.)

Art should make us uncomfortable, and Cost of Living did this for me at times. So did the audience. When I see plays and films about disability, I’m hyper aware of how the audience reacts. There was a joke that involved a harmful disability slur. The audience laughed – and that was incredibly disappointing. I did wonder if the joke was a ploy to make a predominantly non disabled audience more comfortable, akin to one of the themes in the play. In any case, their ableism was showing.

Congratulations to everyone involved on a thought provoking production.

Cost of Living is showing at the Southbank Theatre, Melbourne, until 19 October.

Thanks to the MTC for the tickets. It was so nice to be out, seeing art and chatting to colleagues in the industry. Please keep the invites coming.

Disclaimer: I was gifted tickets to Cost of Living. I was not paid for this post, and I bought my own drink and chocolate.

Images: 1-2. Cast photos of Mabel Li and Olli Pizzey Stratford; and Aaron Pederson and Rachel Edmonds. 3. Carly and Amelia, standing at a black MTC media wall.