In composer-librettist Scott Eyerly’s new comedy opera My Life Online we meet Kay (Sarah Minns), an American woman who’s not left her apartment for a year. As she announces in her very first song, she’s
‘Living my life online.’
For why should she do her exercise class in person, where annoying Lycra-clad people can stare her and there are just so many mirrors? (I’m with you there Kay.)
And why would she go clubbing when clubs are just so unhygienic? Even her pet dog Max is a stuffed toy, so no walking obligations there. Yet Kay is clearly in shape, and hygiene doesn’t seem to be an obsession. So what is going on here?
Kay works for an online call centre, orders her groceries via her laptop, bids for jewellery on websites, and – although she says she doesn’t want to – sees her psychiatrist online too. She’s smart as whip, makes witty comments about her clients, and is all too good at finding reasons not to go outside. Yet underneath her songs about the advantages of staying in there’s evidently some kind of hysteria, well communicated by Minns as her voice rises and her face contorts. This is a woman who doesn’t want to be challenged.
So why is she seeing a doctor?
In a libretto ably accompanied by pianist and Music Director Lana Bode, Kay takes us through her predictable day. Her interactions with the people who message the helpline are very funny; Kay is a great actor and really brings these one-sided conversations to life. But when they get too much, she tellingly exclaims
‘I’m so done helping people!’
And we begin to see that Kay has been helping people all her life, from being the star goody-goody at school to paying her way through college and eventually becoming an immigration lawyer working for people on Legal Aid – mainly Mexicans who’ve crossed the US border. And she was extremely good at it. So why did she stop?
Kay’s psychiatrist wants her to do some unpacking, at first quite literally, as Kay has a suitcase of stuff from her previous life concealed under her desk. Does she want to open it? She does not, and she’s not afraid of telling her doctor what she can do with her questions and advice.
But open it she does, and out come various items from the past. Even her kindergarten report says
‘Kay exceeds in helping others.’
And then she finds a Green Card application form for a very particular client, one who was to become a major player in her life. The story of what happened next is not a new one, but Eyerly loads it with pathos – and, at times, humour (especially when we come to the very unusual way in which Kay discovers, and later reveals, a devastating truth.)
Kay feels safe in her apartment. She likes her fences, her boundaries, her borders. But a call from her old office threatens to change everything. Can she ignore the bravery of someone even more vulnerable than she is? Will she act, or will she not?
My Life Online is essentially a story about barriers, both physical and psychological. Walls that keep us from living our lives, and how we can find the courage to fight our way through them. Minns, whose voice has been praised for its ‘needlepoint accuracy and impressive dramatic range’ keeps us engaged throughout as she sings and acts her way through Kay’s pain and frustration. And don’t think this is all gloom and doom, there are a lot of good jokes along the way too. (Some of these jokes didn’t seem to land with the audience when I was there. I’m not sure why; I enjoyed them. Maybe people just took a while to ‘get their ear in’ to Minns’ singing voice?)
My Life Online, directed by Oliver Platt, is at theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall (theatre 3) on Nicolson Street at 3pm every day until 26 August. Please note there is no performance on Sunday 20 August.
