Karen Vickery says Donald Marguiles' play Collected Stories is reminiscent of the classic 1950 film All About Eve.
Collected Stories takes place over six years and charts the mentor-mentee relationship between an older woman and her protegee and how a single event damages it irrevocably. But instead of being set in the theatrical milieu, as the Oscar-winning movie was, Donald Marguiles' play is set in the literary world.
And, Vickery said, there don't seem to be the same ulterior motives at work in the play. But damage is still done.
In Collected Stories, set in the 1990s, Ruth (Vickery) is an accomplished, acclaimed writer of literary short stories who teaches at Columbia University. Never married and with no children, her focus has very much been on her career and mentoring young writers.
"There's always a special one whose talent is very exciting and intriguing," Vickery said.
"Lisa is that one this year."
Despite their differences - among them, Ruth is Jewish and Lisa is a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant - their relationship comes to be almost like mother and daughter, which is apt given Natasha is Karen Vickery's daughter.
Lisa flourishes under Ruth's mentorship, getting published.
"Then something occurs that Ruth considers a betrayal," Vickery said.
Ruth has a true personal story from her past she hasn't written for publication. She tells it to Lisa.
"It becomes the subject of Lisa's first novel."
This, Vickery said, raises questions such as what a writer can write about, how much of a story is personal and how much is up for grabs - especially if you tell it to another writer - and how much you can put yourself in another's shoes. It isn't necessarily a cut and dried matter: the perspectives of both characters are presented.
"Lisa's 'crime' is not necessarily intentional," Vickery said. But to Ruth, it's a shattering betrayal of trust.
Collected Stories premiered in 1996. It won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for best production of a play and best original play. The play was inspired by a real incident in which Stephen Spender alleged his 1951 autobiography World Within World had been plagiarised by David Leavitt in his 1993 novel, While England Sleeps. Spender sued for copyright infringement and the case was settled out of court.
"There are quite a lot of laughs in it as well as it being a serious drama," Vickery said, comparing it to plays by Anton Chekhov and Edward Albee in the mixture of emotions it evokes.
Vickery's company Chaika Theatre, which shares ACT Hub with Free Rain Theatre Company and Everyman Theatre, also produced Albee's Three Tall Women at the venue this year.
Directing Collected Stories is Luke Rogers, artistic director and chief executive of Canberra Youth Theatre, which Vickery chairs.
- Collected Stories is on at ACT Hub, various dates and times from October 27 to November 12, 2022. See: acthub.com.au.
