Review - Rock, Paper, Scissors

How do you transform a small theatre in the bottom of a Woolloomooloo pub into a remote Scottish lighthouse, complete with crashing waves, cloudy skies and the cries of thousands of puffins? It's easy, if you're Director Leland Kean. The answer is as old as time itself – use the power of storytelling.

The roar of the rowdy diners upstairs is whisked away and replaced by a stark set, the curved wall of a lighthouse rises before your eyes. Three actors will take you on the journey, comic and touching, of three men whose lives are ruled both by the tides of the ocean and the unstoppable force that is manmade technology.

Written by Sydney playwright John A.D. Fraser, Rock, Paper, Scissors is not to be confused as a play about a game of chance or even a game of skill, it's about dealing, coping and moving forward with the hands that life dealt you.

Set in 1995, ex-teacher Pat (Rob Flanagan) and ex-con Ronnie (Sean Barker) are the keepers of the lighthouse at Muckle Flugga – an isolated island home to forty-six million two hundred thousand puffins on Scotland’s most northerly point.

The monotony of their routine existence is broken by the arrival of a relief keeper, young Dougie (Phil Spencer), but exactly how much relief he will bring to the island is difficult to determine. In fact, it’s hard to tell whether the lighthouse is the men's prison or their sanctuary, or both.

Pat and Ronnie’s fears of redundancy are realised as Dougie reluctantly reveals that the Lighthouse is to be automated. Tensions rise as the three men must brace themselves to face a new world, as the old one that sheltered them is washed away.

As Fraser himself says - "It's an uplifting story. It's not a challenging, morose night in the theatre. It's the complete opposite of that. It's human and funny." And to my great relief, I would have to agree.

Storytelling as tender, truthful and simple as this is often left by the wayside for more dramatic, shocking or dark tales of woe, but there is something so comforting and fulfilling about a night at the theatre that entertains without so much emotional strain.

I left feeling revived, touched by human spirit and connected to an art form that is often overwhelmed by technology and sidelined by film and television. The lighthouse may now be automated but there is still a way to be transported to Scotland’s most northerly point without the use of screens, special effects or ad breaks.

Rock, Paper, Scissors runs from July 30 - August 22 at the Old Fitzroy Hotel.
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