Briallen Clarke in PONY by Griffin Theatre Co. Image: Brett Boardman
In Griffin Theatre’s new show Pony, Hazel (Briallen Clarke) is a 37 year old middle class bogan who is suffering from anxious life issues.
Hazel is anxious about life, and in particular, her inability to find a partner for fertilisation when she is told that she is near the end of her optimum time to conceive.
To prepare herself, Hazel takes to attending MrsTwinkle’s Rhyme Time classes where nursery rhymes are spoken due to Covid restrictions.
Briallen Clarke in PONY by Griffin Theatre Co. Image: Brett Boardman
Hazel becomes fixated on “The Wheels On The Bus” with its repetition of the words “round and round” which are used as a motif heralding changes in the play’s tension.
What follows is a roller coaster of emotions and scenarios as Hazel eventually finds a partner and becomes pregnant.
The rhythm of her life changes, but as she faces her prenatal condition her anxiety continues, now focused on her worthiness to become a mother.
Clarke’s performance grabs our attention from when she first walks onto the stage and she doesn’t let us go throughout Pony’s 100 minutes.
Billed as a one woman play, it in fact has around 30 characters, all played by Clarke with great dexterity as she switches character with just a small physical gesture or vocal inflection.
Briallen Clarke in PONY by Griffin Theatre Co. Image: Brett Boardman
The characterisation of her grandmother, who tells her to cut herself some slack as “No-one knows how to do it.You learn on the job” is particularly moving and is also a good summation of the thrust of the play.
Clarke shares the stage with a giant pink pony that acts as a prop for the many of the play’s different scenario changes, and despite the physical demands on using it as a secondary set, she adapts to it with great ease.
First time writer Eloise Snape has done an amazing job of taking Hazel through her harrowing journey of broken relationships and self doubt by imbuing the play with great comedic moments and inventive, if often confronting language, as we quickly warm to Hazel and her predicaments.
Briallen Clarke in PONY by Griffin Theatre Co. Image: Brett Boardman
Snape has honed her script to be as sharp as a Global knife set and then bravely handed it over to Clarke and director Anthea Williams who have fleshed it out as one of the great stage creations in recent times.
Designer Isabel Hudson has kept the stage clean and simple which allows us to focus on Clarke’s performance.
Sound designer Me-Lee Hay has done likewise, using mainly low volume audio washes that make the impact of Ginuwine’s song “Pony” during the Magic Mike sequence even greater.
Verity Hampson has also adopted a minimal approach to the lighting that is most effective in the party scenes and the powerful finale.
Pony is one of the great theatre experiences of the year so far and is destined to become one of those “Did you see it?” events.