Ross and Rachel – Civic Theatre – Review

Ross and Rachel by James Fritz
15 – 26 Sep | Various, see listing Studio Theatre
Presented By: The Civic and Bitter Like a Lemon

In this production, we meet an unnamed couple in their mid-forties who have been married for many years. The man (Ross?) is still deeply in love with his wife (Rachel?), but she is less certain about the relationship, feeling that she has become trapped in it through inertia as much as anything else. We follow their trials and tribulations as they navigate the problems of everyday life, some relatively minor, others considerably more serious.

The first thing to consider is the title of the play itself. Written by British playwright James Fritz and first staged in 2015, more than ten years after the television series Friends came to an end, the play has no direct connection to the characters of the popular American sitcom. Yet there are certain similarities to make us wonder whether the title is more than a coincidence. We learn that the couple first met as she was a friend of his sister. He has a PhD in an unspecified subject. Could this, then, be some kind of alternative future for the couple from Friends, projected a decade beyond the sitcom’s conclusion? If so, Fritz takes the idea in a very different direction. This is a dark and unsettling story, largely stripped of the humour and warmth associated with the comedy. Fritz himself says he used the name as a pop culture shorthand for a ‘meant to be’ couple.

“I think I could’ve picked a lot of titles for the play, but those three words have become a kind of pop cultural shorthand for a certain type of relationship. You hear people say things like “they’re hardly Ross and Rachel” all the time.” – Interview with James Fritz

The play is performed as a monologue, with Amilia Keating taking on both parts of the married couple. She switches rapidly between the two characters, using subtle changes in vocal range, physicality and posture to distinguish between them. We see the male character sitting with his legs spread wide, adopting distinctly masculine mannerisms, while the female character is defined through an entirely different physical presence. The constant movement between two personalities is demanding, both for the performer and for the audience, requiring us to remain alert to the smallest changes in voice and body language.

It is an exceptionally challenging role, and Keating does an impressive job of bringing both characters to life. There is something fascinating about watching one performer effectively create an entire relationship before us. What initially appears to be a familiar portrait of a long-term marriage gradually becomes something considerably darker, touching on emotional disconnection and, ultimately, mortality.

Despite its deceptively familiar title, this is certainly not a light-hearted journey back to the world of Friends. Fritz uses the title as an intriguing point of reference, but what follows is a much more sombre exploration of love and the passage of time. The principal attraction here is Keating’s intense and committed performance, as she creates and shifts between these two diverse characters.

Written By: James Fritz
Directed By: Lee Coffey
Cast: Amilia Keating