BETWEEN THE STREETLIGHT AND THE MOON
Kings Cross Theatre, May 9. Until May 27

★★★

The last play I saw by Melita Rowston was her warm-hearted theatrical documentary The Giant Worm Show, an investigation into the cultural phenomenon that is the giant Gippsland earthworm.

Her latest work tackles a no less slippery a subject and, again, one with roots in real events.

Set in the realms of academia and contemporary art, Between the Streetlight and the Moon links the life and experience of a modern day artist-turned-academic to that of Berthe Morisot, the 19th century French painter and Impressionist pioneer whose relationship with Edouard Manet continues to provoke speculation.

Zadie (played by Lucy Miller), author of Gash: a History of the C-nt in Nineteenth Century Art, is a London-based Australian academic whose research into Morisot and Manet promises an explosive pay-off. That is, if she can write her thesis (six years in the making, so far, and not a page written) and furnish the critical documentary proof to demonstrate beyond doubt that the friendship between Morisot and Manet, one captured in 11 enigmatic portraits painted between 1868 and 1874, was not confined to canvas.

The pressure is on: from her academic overseer Janet (Suzanne Pereira), from the French doctoral candidate Dominique (Joanna Downing) she is supervising, and from Barry (Ben McIvor), a needy painter hoping to make an impression on the London scene.

But the more deeply Zadie is drawn into her investigation, the more difficult it becomes for her to maintain critical distance and thinking. Her own secret history as an artist comes to haunt her in the form of Jeff (Lani Tupu), Zadie's ex-lover and mentor.

Rowston blends elements of art world mystery yarn (hidden letters, clues in paintings) into a nuanced drama about the ways in which the art world sidelines female talent and judges them against male peers.

Set in a white, gallery-like space designed by Jeremy Allen and lit by Chris Page, director Anthony Skuse's production moves freely between London art school and the museums of Paris. Disciplined, thoughtful performances - from Miller, especially – are revealed in sharp relief.

Some passages of play form a sticky impasto of art-speak and explanatory stuff, and the big discovery in the final scene verges on the hackneyed, but for the most part, Between the Streetlight and the Moon – the title alludes to those things we settle for rather than aspire toward - moves fluidly and grips consistently for its 100 minutes.