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Entertainment

29 April, 2022

Cherish - the beauty of what you can’t have

Cherish at The Rondo by playwright Ken Duncum and directed by Lynn Cropp is a beautiful, painful and complex peek into the struggles of queer parenthood and relationships, which are often overlooked and glamorised in entertainment.

By Isabella Guzman Gonzalez

(L-R) Mauve, Jess, Tom and William
(L-R) Mauve, Jess, Tom and William

A tale of love and friendship and the pain that only humans know how to cause each other, Cherish captures you with its compelling characters and asks, what would you do if you were faced with the most challenging decision of all? 

Cherish tells the story of two queer couples, Jess and Maeve and Tom and William and the family they share, two little girls, Eliza and Scarlett. 

When Tom and William ask Jess to be the surrogate mother of their baby, the relationship between the couples begins to crumble. 

Director Lynn Cropp said the modernity and narration of this play make it an enjoyable and compelling experience for the audience. 

“What I like the most about this play is the pace achieved through the scripting of the short sharp scenes,” Ms Cropp said. 

“And it’s a story about the relationships and the really tough choices that they have to make. 

“I think people will relate and enjoy seeing this drama on stage at The Rondo.” 

Producer Kim Greaves said Cherish touches on how often adults make their children victims in their selfish interests. 

“When kids are involved, people always say – we’re doing it for the kids,” Ms Greaves said. 

“But I think this play reminds us how much is really about the adults and not the kids and how we can be more sensitive towards the people that become collateral damage of these human relationships.” 

Getting to experience Cherish on stage was delightful. It was funny, dramatic, and so very human. 

I personally fell in love with William, played by Jim Gosden, whose portrayal was magnificent and profound. 

The clever use of ‘You can’t always get what you want’ by The Rolling Stones is a constant reminder of the profound human desire to have it all and our incapacity to be content with what we get. 

There is one particular moment that stuck with me, as By Isabella Guzman Gonzalez tensions increase between Tom and Jess and Maeve, William says this beautiful quote to Tom, who claims that the only thing that will fulfil him is becoming a father: 

“The things you can’t have – they define you, shape you. They belong to you. They’re not an outrage to natural justice. They are nature. They’re something to be cherished.” 

Throughout the play, you realise that not only these characters but ourselves deny the beauty of the unreachable. 

Cherish reminds us that not being able to get everything we want makes us who we are and lead us to a path of discovery and love for that person that we could not be. 

Overall, Cherish is a touching tribute to friendship, parenthood and human nature that both theatre enthusiasts and day-to-day people can enjoy and relate to. 

Visit The Rondo this Friday, April 29, for the opening night of Cherish.

To book tickets for Cherish at The Rondo, visit:  https://therondo.com.au/book/2021/cherish or click on  https://bit.ly/3Jvypk4

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