The Players by Deborah Pike is a meandering 10-year journey of the cast and director of a student production of The Marriage of Figaro. Banned from the university’s rehearsal space for smoking, cast member Veronika convinces her parents to let the ensemble use their fruit orchard in the Perth Hills, on the proviso that they assist with the harvest.
Individual issues and complex social dynamics take flight in the orchard. Veronika, who is dating the privileged and arrogant Sebastian, reunites with an old friend and romantic interest, Joshua, who is now out of prison. Veronika’s sister Ana returns home from her time abroad as an au pair, and has eyes for Joshua’s brother, Charlie. Cassie steals a kiss with Sebastian; Gloria kisses Joshua but knows her mother wouldn’t approve of her relationship with a non-Catholic. Meanwhile Felix, the director, is meant to be on exchange studying engineering, but is instead gripped by theatre. A lot is going on.
After the play, the characters each take on very different paths through life. They travel to France, the UK, Germany, the US and Timor Leste. They forge different careers with varying levels of success; some marry; some have children. All the while, The Marriage of Figaro remains a background motif in their respective lives – a transformative event that lingers in their memory.
The book is a rigorous study into the chasm between how you dream your life may go and the realities of life. It examines the frustrations, the unexpected news, the ways decisions reverberate, the ways wealth – or the lack thereof – can compound.
The large cast of characters are handled well – each voice is distinct, and each person realised in their complexity. What feels less assured about the novel is the strength of the connection between the characters. Although the backstage events during the play are fairly rendered as watershed events, the fact that the importance of the performance seems to renew focus over a decade, feels slightly less convincing.
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This is a minor quibble though. The coming-of-age novel will appeal particularly to theatre lovers, with its allusions to The Marriage of Figaro and the works of Brecht and Chekhov. Set in the 90s and early 2000s through different parts of the world, the book also has the retro appeal of recent history and satiates wanderlust with its vivid attention to setting.
The Players, Deborah Pike
Publisher: Fremantle Press
ISBN: 9781760993061
Pages:400pp
RRP: $34.99
Publication date: 2024
