Battino’s ‘Die, Already!’

Press, 12 July 1988, Page 6

Battino’s ‘Die, Already!’

“Die, Already!” at the Court Theatre, Court 2, July 11 to 15,12.15 p.m. Written and directed by Rubin Battino. Reviewed by Mike O’Brien. “Can’t she die a little faster!” says the jaded Manny, voicing the urgent concern of the main protagonists. Minnie’s mother is dying slowly in the room below and, after 10 years, they have edged to the brink of exhaustion. “Die, Already!” explores the ramifications of their sacrifice, the toll on themselves as individuals and their relationship. For such a brief play (running time 25 minutes) there is a lot of substance. Rubin Battino has created two immensely credible characters in this unpleasant but very human situation. For actors it is a. difficult, task to flesh

out characters who are “sucked dry” by their experience and, at the same time, compel. After a slowish beginning, Bill LeMarquand developed Manny into a convincing whole: Sometimes selfish and selfpitying, hungering for love himself, he could also be giving and totally honest. Nicola Wellbourn projected the emptiness of Minnie’s situation extremely well — her lack of energy, emotion and direction. As a pair they captured the tragedy of their relationship with its strains, evasions, explosions and subsequent guilt. And full credit to the playwright, Battino. For such an "unpleasant” subject, the play compels in its provocation, language and its flashes of humour. One cannot but fail to ba/moved.