A voice cries out in the darkness. “You do a lot of crazy things when you’re eighteen. I killed Sharon Tate.” The spotlight shines on the grinning face of Susan Atkins (Helen O’Connor), one of the central protagonists in the infamous Manson murders. “How did we get here?”, she muses and launches immediately into a tell-all tale of the life of Atkins.
It would seem that the tale of the Manson murders would be an inappropriate subject for an objectively funny play, yet the skill of one of Australia’s greatest writers, Stephen Sewell, brings the story to life, via his play, Partying with Manson, currently being performed as part of Adelaide Fringe. He has an uncanny ability to delve beneath the characters and examine their motivations and drivers. Like a scientist examining a subject under a microscope, so we get to peer into the most personal and lurid aspects of “The Family.” He peppers gruesome details with humorous asides.
You may remember Helen O’Connor from TV shows such as “Crownies” and “Packed to the Rafters”, but in the role of Sharon Tate she is magnificent. Capturing perfectly the era of go-go dancing and easy money from exploiting her body to men, she tells the story as if she’s at a party recounting her past. There are no holds barred as she describes running away from alcoholic parents at a young age and being lured into seedy situations by dubious men. She meets Manson at one such event and starts worshipping him like a god. He describes himself as a cross between the Devil and Jesus.
It’s a fascinating story told expertly by O’Connor in a wide-eyed innocent way. From the ever-increasing numbers of women that Manson attracted to living on a bus, living at an abandoned western movie lot and finally moving in with The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, the story just spirals. With copious amounts of psychotic drugs, the cult of Manson was well and truly alive.
O’Connor’s ability to seamlessly switch between characters with the flourish of a cape or an evil grin, combined with her fourth wall asides to the sound effects guy, meant that the audience were on the edge of their sets trying to figure out what comes next. As a whodunnit, we already know the ending, yet the finale was delivered with such aplomb that we barely know what’s hit us before it happens.
The Fringe audience in the packed Goodwood Theatre on opening night was privileged to witness the premiere of what is sure to be a hit around the country. This one-woman show is a surefire hit just waiting to happen.