One Day Closer is a new Australian drama written, performed, and directed by rising young star Tim Hotchkin. Tim is joined on stage by WAAPA graduate Maya Curtis who, along with stage manager Gabi Munro, is also a co-director.

Tim wrote the play with the dramatic trajectory arising from his own experiences during 2020, alone and a long way from home. Some of his thoughts on the inspiration behind his writing are set out in the individual programmes, an unusual but welcome touch for a FRINGE WORLD show.

Tim and Maya play Jack and Simone, younger brother and slightly elder sister who typically love (and hate) each other, even though they only admit it as a running joke between themselves.

The dynamic between the siblings is nicely observed, particularly how they irritate each other to distraction and yet still are able to collude in their constant battle to cope with parents who ‘don’t understand’. The parents are never seen but present a persistent backdrop to the onstage action.

Effectively the interactions between brother and sister are a series of flashback-vignettes which Jack uses to illustrate his feelings in a sort of monologue to an unseen psychiatrist.

The staging is stripped back and the two actors are provided with just enough props to evoke the everyday happenings in their lives as they progress through the challenges of their late teens and early 20s.

The scenes between Jack and Simone are the strongest in the play with both actors very convincingly showing just what they mean to each other.

The psychiatric monologue, while less successful, still provides some valuable context to the storyline. One slight quibble is that occasionally it was somewhat hard to discern the message as Jack, speaking softly, struggled to project in the large performance space.

Overall though this is a fresh and compelling drama, highlighting the importance of family and belonging to mental health. And let’s hope we see lots more of the exciting talent of both Maya and Tim around Perth in the near future.