Storyline
• Ruben Guthrie lives a lifestyle that could be ripped from the pages
of an upmarket glossy magazine. He's 29, creative director of the
hottest advertising agency in town and lives in a fashionable
apartment with a Czech supermodel several years his junior. He also
likes a drink - or 20.
• Winning awards, getting the girls and generally living the life, Ruben
is rapidly coming to believe his own press. Feeling invincible, he
leaps off a hotel roof one night and lands in a whole lot of trouble
when he drunkenly mistakes the baby pool for a full-size one.
• Exit the girlfriend and welcome a plaster cast on the broken arm,
bruises and various abrasions and a visit to Alcoholics Anonymous.
• Ruben thinks he can win back the girl if he swears off the sauce for
a month or two and attends a few meetings but gradually he starts
to realise maybe his life is as shallow as the baby pool he landed in.
Cast and Crew
Crew
Direction: SHANE BOSHER
Written by: BRENDAN COWELL
Set design: JOHN VERRYT
Costume design: PETRA VERWEIJ
Lighting design: JANE HAKARAIA
Production management: JOSH HYMAN
Sage management: JOSH HYMAN,
LAURYN WATI
Properties management: BECS EHLERS
Technical operation: STUART PHILLIPS
Set construction: 2 CONSTRUCT
Production assistance: SEAN LYNCH
Cast:
Ruben Guthrie: OLIVER DRIVER
Zoya: CHELSIE PRESTON CRAYFORD
Ray: ANDREW GRAINGER
Peter Guthrie: PETER ELLIOTT
Virginia: TONI POTTER
Susan Guthrie: ELLIE SMITH
Damian: DEAN O'GORMAN
• Resisting temptations, - misusing alcohol,
Drugs,
• Relationships,
• Peer Pressure,
• Trust,
How does it relate to us?
• The play and characters relate the most to us (teenagers) because most of
us are facing the troubles of getting ‘into’ the right crowd, partying, and
through partying, drinking. In Ruben Guthrie, the character of Ruben is
constantly drunk by both his boss, his father, his best friend and himself,
so that he can get goods idea’s for his job, be more fun, bond better with
his father.
• Peer pressure is another idea in which most of the characters pressure
Rubin to drink again even though they know he is in AA. Ruben's father
drinks all the time and he wants his son to drink with him , his mother is
the same and wants her son to be normal and drink socially with her, not
realising he has a problem. She pressures him to just have one thinking it
won't hurt him. His friend comes back from another city and stays with
him, bringing with him alot of juty free alcohol in which he pressures
Rubin into drinking. So they can have more fun. Virginia also pressures
Rubin into kicking out his mate as she says he is a bad influence. Rubens
Boss also pressures him to drink as he has good ideas for the company
when he is drunk.
Conventions
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Monologue- The play Ruben Guthrie opens with Ruben speaking to the audience,
expressing his thoughts and feelings as if he is in an AA (Alcoholics Anonymous)
meeting. This sets the scene for his addiction of Alcohol and drugs that we soon
become aware of. This convention is used at the beginning of every scene and
gives us the situation that Ruben is in.
Conscience Alley- This convention is used to show how bad and messed up Ruben
has become due to his addiction. He has just taken some drugs and is
hallucinating; he witnesses his Mother, Father, ex girlfriend Zoya, Rubens current
girlfriend, his boss and his best friend who is very persuading. They are all
expressing their feelings towards his addiction and stand around Ruben as he is
‘Buzzing’ out because he high. They begin speaking to him one by one then soon
start speaking all together giving their own advice.
Freeze Frame- Freeze frame is used at the end of every scene. This gives the
audience a chance to capture the moment and take in the surroundings and
imagery. It also gives you a chance to think what is about to happen next. One case
of freeze frame is used when Rubens best friend who is gay tries his smooth moves
on him. Ruben has promised never to go there and the scene stopped with his
pants leaving the audience in anticipation and got them thinking “No Ruben Don’t
DO IT!!!”