The bottom line is, yes, Overflow is as good as everyone says it is, go see it! The return season of Overflow, a wickedly funny and fiery.one-person play that beautifully illustrates the life of a young trans woman, lives up to all of the acclaim it has received since its Australian debut in 2022.
Cornered in a nightclub bathroom, where the entire play is set, Rosie (Janet Anderson) regales the audience with her story, interrupted by banging on the door outside. Bathrooms can be central to a young woman’s life. A place to take a moment for yourself, check your outfit, get help from a stranger, or just escape the attention of men. For Rosie, bathroom’s have been the centre of a childhood mystery, a place of unlikely allyship, and sometimes the scene of an altercation, like the one she’s hoping to avoid right now.
British performance artist and playwright Travis Alabanza’s brilliant script isn’t a sober polemic about trans rights, or a depressing drama about attacks on trans folks, although both those themes are present. Alabanza paints Rosie’s life as one that is full of energy and excitement, like any 20-something woman living in a big city. She jokes about her childhood cisgender friend who seems to be on a mission to be the most progressive ally in the world, and her trans lesbian friend who has a girlfriend and lives in the suburbs of North London. Rose’s life is good…except for the aggressive banging on the bathroom door right now.
This being a one-person show, Overflow couldn’t succeed without its performer, and Janet Anderson is nothing short of a superstar. I first saw her in Red Line Production’s Collapsible (another one-person show) and was deeply impressed, but this performance is next level. I’ve heard others describe Overflow as a career-making role for Anderson and it’s hard to disagree. To hold an audience in the palm of one’s hand, guide them through comedy and trauma and romance-of-a-sort, all on your own, is a rare skill that not every performer possesses. Anderson is utterly magnetic on stage.
Anderson’s exceptional performance is matched by everything around her. The set, designed by Dino Dimitriadis, comes alive with each shift in Benjamin Brockman’s lighting. As director, Dimitriadis keeps the action moving and feeling fresh as Rosie stalks the limited area and stares at herself in the mirror. Composer Danni Esposito’s sound design and score are omnipresent, and ever-evolving. There is no weak link in this production.
Good monologues are hard to write, and perhaps even harder to stage and perform, but the stars have aligned with Overflow. This is a first-rate production from script to stage, without a hair out of place. It’s unmissable.
By Chad Armstrong
Overflow is part of the Sydney Festival 2024 and plays Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s Eternity Playhouse from January 17th – 27th, before touring to Melbourne’s Midsumma Festival at the Arts Centre Melbourne from January 31st – February 4th and Geelong Arts Centre February 8th – 10th.
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