Social Animals

Imagine the girls of Sex and the City on the pyschologist's couch and you will have some idea of what Tiana Linden, Amy Baty and Maranda Stappenbeck are doing in this quirky, intelligent and carefully-researched look at the knots in which we tie ourselves in constructing the image we present to others.

What starts off seeming like an inane girlish bitchfest soon turns into an absorbing look at the mechanics of our interactions with one another. After a quick tour through the stresses and strains of the lives of businesswoman Sarah (Stappenbeck), put-upon single mum Rachel (Beatty) and socialite Lisa (Linden), the scenes between each of the three pairs are repeated. However, this time its in the presence of a bizarre but hugely engaging pyschologist-cum-guardian angel who flits around the room interrupting the dialogue with an analysis of the interactions – showing us the facades we construct in our struggle to fulfil our self-images. 

Ultimately, though, these facades become the women's real selves, and each devolves into a more extreme, more unpleasant, less functional version than at the start of the hour. With each conversation repeated for a third time—finally at triple speed with the women running round the room—the ending feels a little stage-schooly, letting down the much more delicately constructed first 45 minutes. 

There is more than a little influence from Irving Goffman's Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life here, and it's plain the three women have done an impressive amount of research in weaving together this funny, touching and ultimately entertaining play.

La Tasca, 1:30pm – 2:30pm, 1–16 Aug, free