If you’ve got a uterus, you’ve more than likely been asked by some well-meaning family member “when” you want to have children. “When”, not “if”, is a presumptuous adverb; implying that if you are capable of growing a baby inside you, then of course you’d like to make use of that ability. For those of us who might be career-driven, or just not particularly excited by the prospect of a bouncing bub, having a uterus involves making a series of complicated choices.
Penned in the wake of the devastating overturn of Roe V Wade in the United States, Expiration Date is a new Australian play written by Lana Filies and produced by Purple Tape Productions. This hour-long two-hander dramedy starts like a rom-com and leaves you with a confronting (and also comforting?) feeling in the pit of your stomach – the recognition that you’re not the only one who constantly feels inadequate for not living your life according to the script that’s been written for you.
With just the right amount of comic relief, the play builds up towards its inevitable climax with style
The premise is simple: a newly single woman (played by Lana Filies) gets trapped in an elevator with her ex-boyfriend (Flynn Mapplebeck). What follows is an hour of conversations between them that range from funny to heartbreaking, and will have you introspecting all the way home on the bus.
Filies is charmingly neurotic as the eldest-daughter-type who has the impossible job of being both a woman with ambition and a family to care for. Mapplebeck is similarly sweet as the golden retriever boyfriend we all know and love, who wants so badly to settle down and have a family. They both have a great sense of comedic timing, and their early repartee is deeply satisfying for those of us who pine for the golden era of rom-coms like How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days.
Lily Hayman’s direction brings out great contrasts between the rom-com moments and the hard conversations, although the setting of the lift (designed by Tyler Fitzpatrick) can sometimes be restrictive. A highlight of the show is the “montage” type scene that cleverly squeezes four hours of repetitive stuck-in-an-elevator activities into a choreographed dance – including Filies practicing a big speech, singing ‘YMCA’, and playing scissors-paper-rock.
In the final moments of the play, when Filies finally touches Mapplebeck’s arm and he notices she still wears his ring, the pair convey an impeccable chemistry. However, this intimacy could have been better developed in the lead up to this moment.
Filies’s writing is the real star of this show. Her characters are nuanced and complex, drawing on the stereotypes of the “girlboss” and the sweet yet somewhat deadbeat boyfriend who is happy to live in one town all his life. With just the right amount of comic relief, the play builds up towards its inevitable climax with style. No one is the real winner of this conversation, they’re just coming to terms with the terrifying fact that they are human, they are different, and they make mistakes.
Expiration Date is a well-written and enjoyable show for lovers of meaty rom-coms (and for hurting your own feelings). It’s a promising piece from Filies and Purple Tape Productions – champions of female-led work who have three more shows coming up very soon at their KXT “Tape Over” Festival. Take your friends with uteruses, and if you’re extra brave, take your ex.
Expiration Date is playing upstairs at Meraki Arts Bar until May 13, 2023. Tickets range from $25-$35 and you can snap up yours over here.