Ben Ellis’ apocalyptic Australian play Falling Petals is an interesting look at the potentially mortal effects of lethargy. This indictment of the “townie” attitude takes our current youthful generation (you know, the post-Gen X bunch…what’s their handle?) to task for accepting the status quo. It seems a perfect choice for Stray Cat Theatre: young, hip, tragic, full of disease and cattiness. Initially, it seems an odd choice to have Scott Campbell to direct, but expanding the reach of ones oeuvre is always a good thing. And the script is generally worthwhile, although the production that it supports is inconsistent.

Set in the farmland of Hollow beyond the outer ‘burbs of Melbourne, it focuses on a trio of friends: brainy and motivated Phil (Benjamin Burt) who plots his escape to the city; aggressive and not-as-smart Tania (Erica Mathlin) who wouldn’t mind escaping on Phil’s, uhh, coattails; and shy Sally (Gabriella Paredes) who has a crush on Phil and no hope of escaping her poverty and the town. A mysterious and deadly illness is striking the children of this rural area, but it seems to strike only those who desire to stay. Think Rhinoceros with a capitalist spin. The adults (all of whom are played by Timothy J. Ebright and Kerry McCue) are first chary, but then grow increasingly mob-like. The closer the illness creeps to these friends, the more their desires, motivations, and bonds are tested.

Campbell has always been a strong, meticulous director with a wide theatrical background but a history of traditional works. In his first gig helming a Stray Cat production, the show is played very earnestly, but the pacing is inconsistent and the motivation behind some of the blocking is misty. The result is a show that should build from leisurely to frenetic, but instead rose and fall in odd waves. He has also fallen into the damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t hell of having chosen no Australian accents for everyone, which is jarring, but he probably would have received more of a knock if there had rather been inconsistency in presentation. Still, credit must be given to a director and actors who are required to reproduce such scenes as the oddest and most titillating tutoring session and the split dinner table exposition session on literally shaky ground.

A majority of the pacing problems, though, seemed to come from hesitations on the part of the cast on opening night. Burt and Mathlin appeared to be racing each other, while Paredes, a character more in her own world, took a more plodding and periphery approach. While there is a schism between the group first in a two versus one sense, they never appeared on the same page. Burt is solid in presenting his character’s rage and persistence, although his minimal choices in expressing them grows tedious until the climax. Mathlin has a quick vocal delivery that can sometimes be hard to hear, and as a result, sometimes does not seem as connected to the scenes in which she plays a part. Paredes is a bafflement. Her odd character is hard to pin down. Her choice is to play into the childishness and eccentricities rather than against them, and it makes her more of a caricature and less empathetic as their world spins apart. She does make some jarring choices that are interesting, but ultimately her absolute investment into the character’s distance undercuts the possibilities.

Powerful performances come from McCue and Ebright, each charged with playing half a dozen characters apiece. Each of their creations are just different enough from each other so as to keep the needed differentiation. Best offerings are McCue’s answering-question-with-a-question Sociologist and Ebright’s slimy chamber commerce president who finds a silver lining on a pestilence.

The space that Stray Cat has committed to for the next two years is not a model one, but David Ojala has done a wonderful job of working with the impediments in recreating the barren setting with a central tree, a midstage hill, and an excellent falling petal effect. Randy Braunm’s lighting is effective, and Marcos Voss’ costumes capture character and consequence appropriately.