Australian Football

R.D. Barassi - still putting on a show

Live theatre and footy haven't collided very often in my lifetime. Of course the game is itself a wonderful piece of theatre, with many games having dramatic twists and suspense-filled finales that some Broadway shows would kill for. But I'm referring to a live stage production, where the subject is football or a football character. Back in the '70s we had David Williamson's brilliant, "The Club", later transformed into an iconic film. And I remember seeing ads in the VFL's Footy Record in the mid-70s advertising a live stage version of Barry Oakley's (A Salute to) The Great McCarthy, also made into a film at the same time. I've seen and loved both films but was far too young to go to the stage versions of the time.

Since then, there has been little celebration of the game and its characters on the boards. Until now. I was fortunate enough to see Barassi - the Stage Show at Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre in the week preceding the 2012 Grand Final and I walked out afterwards wanting to publicly suggest two things: one, that anyone with more than a passing interest in Australian football and its history see this show, and two, that more writers and directors take the brave step that Tee O'Neill and Terence O'Connell (writer and director of Barassi) have, and create stage shows that focus on Australian football and its characters.

Admittedly, as someone who grew up on a diet of footy in winter and cricket in summer, it probably wasn't ever going to take much to stir my interest in this show. Notwithstanding that, as I entered the Athenæum, I was still somewhat nervous about how the life of one of the game's true giants would be treated. And despite feeling a slight early unease at Chris Asimos's portrayal of the young Barassi's kicking style, my nerves were quickly settled.

The play opens with scenes of the 1977 drawn Grand Final and the subsequent replay, as recollected by long-suffering Collingwood fan, Melba, played by Jane Clifton. Melba is described in the program is the show's "omniscient narrator" and she plays the part to perfection, complete with what one might describe as a Collingwood supporter's accent. Melba fades and returns throughout the production to set each of the scenes and provide sage observations on the culture, both football and societal, that serve as a backdrop to all of them.

Melba takes us back to the childhood days of Ronald Dale Barassi, a footy-mad kid who idolises his dad, also Ron. Ron Senior is already a premiership player and a rising star of the Melbourne Football Club, as is his best mate Norm Smith. But these are of course also days of war, and Ron Senior, like so many of his age, heads off to battle in the months after being reserve in Melbourne's 1940 Grand Final-winning side. Young Ron is left in the care of his mother, with Norm Smith (played with wonderful understatement by Matt Parkinson) keeping a fatherly lookout for the footy-mad upstart.

Chris Asimos plays both Ron Senior and the younger Ron Junior and, notwithstanding his aforementioned kicking style, pulls off both parts with aplomb. Asimos's hairstyle matches perfectly with my memories of the footage and photos that I know of the R.D. Barassi from the 1950s, and he has the body of a strong, tough footy player to boot. Amanda LaBonte does a fine job as Elza, Ron Junior's mum and later also as both Ron's first and second wives, Nancy and Cherryl.

Ron's early playing days are characterised by an unbridled enthusiasm which serve as both strength and a hindrance to the team's cause. The brilliant tactician Smith creates a new position, ruck-rover, specifically to harness the strengths of Barassi and a superstar player is born. At this point, the seeds of a superstar coach are also planted.

Just before the end of Act I, the young Barassi's mantle is taken over by the more mature version, played by Steve Bastoni, setting the scene for the second act, in which Barassi the coach dominates. Bastoni's physical resemblance to Barassi the coach is not as striking as Asimos's is to Barassi the player for me, but this minor detail is soon forgotten as Bastoni charges headlong into the first of several of Barassi's famous "speeches" to his team. I had concerns that this would be a very difficult aspect of the man to reproduce, but I reckon Bastoni really nails it.

Bastoni himself recently tweeted that the real Barassi had come to watch the show and was impressed by the performance of both Bastoni and Asimos. High praise indeed!

Barassi's life up until his Sydney coaching days is covered in a play that blends traditional stage production techniques with multimedia facets almost seamlessly. The supporting cast, Richard Sutherland, Glenn Maynard, Sean McGrath and Russell Roberston - in his stage acting debut - are all very good in the multitude of ensemble and individual roles they take on. Robertson's version of Mark "Jacko" Jackson's I'm An Individual was a particular highlight.

Bastoni, Asimos and Clifton all feature in a poignant finale that caps off a wonderful piece of theatre. There are surely many other characters of footy that deserve a similar stage tribute. Perhaps after the run of Barassi at The Athenæum has concluded, we might see Malthouse at The Malthouse? Barassi's run concludes this Sunday. I'm not Molly Meldrum but I heartily recommend that you "do yourself a favour" and catch one of the last few performances.