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Reviews |
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November-December 2001
We welcome comments on our reviews: please go to Stagediary's Forum. Australian Sitcom Festival Don Quixote Molly Sweeney My Friend Miss Flint The Pirates of Penzance A Pitchfork Disney Relatively Speaking Safe Sex The Seagull The Women Earlier reviews |
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine Australian Sitcom Festival QTC This an interesting experiment but of course fraught with peril. How can you possibly judge a sitcom from one episode, especially one performed on stage rather than through the transforming televisual medium? It's a bit like judging a book on the basis of its first chapter, or a play based on its opening scene. A great strength of a sitcom episode is that you come to it with vast contextual knowledge: we know what a shambles and scrounger Kramer is, for example. The humour comes from the conduct of known characters in slightly varying situations. But every series has to start somewhere, so it's a good idea to involve a live audience in acted scripts starring live theatre professionals. This puts special pressure on QTC and its directors, of course, in trying to bring, or perhaps not bring, stage values to scripts written for television. Not least of the problem is how to provide a suitable set for quite different pieces written for television. Designer Lucy Willink's solution is to pile the QUT Theatre's wide stage with mountains of cardboard boxes, which become walls, stairs and whatever other scenery is required. It works well. All three pieces on the second night of the series have good lines and routines, although the Australian preoccupation with below the navel humour is wearying. Did the writers not think they might like to write a show for a 7pm audience? Guru Blues has the interesting premise of an amiable conman trying to make his way as a paid speaker after his release from jail. So much of the episode is spent establishing character and plot history that it is difficult to see where the show would go, and the pace needs lifting. What's That Burning centres on a collection of ultra-whacky types peopling a TV station including a highly neurotic chef and a wannabe star trying to edge her way on camera through threats of Mafia connections. Most successful of the trio was Family from Hell. It's a misnamed piece, as the family doesn't seem unusually deviant or disruptive, and the situations are centred mainly within the family, featuring an extended battle of the sexes: Max (Peter Marshall)'s and his son's desire to spend a Lotto win on a Harley Davidson conflicts with Marlena (Sue Dwyer)'s and daughters' priorities. The familiar QTC ensemble playing multiple roles do a good job. It was of course their chance to highlight their telegenic potential to the talent scouts. Particularly memorable are Errol O'Neill as the maudlin ex-crim, Hayden Spencer as a bark-worse-than-his-bite bikie and Paul Denny, most entertainingly, as a pre-teen brat. — John Henningham (Performance seen: 4th December 2001) www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine Safe Sex New Farm Nash Theatre In Nash tradition the themes behind its latest production are nothing short of controversial. In Harvey Fierstein's Safe Sex, however, homosexuality and AIDS are presented with a touch of black humour, as director/actor Drew Mason brings to the stage a darkly ironic but entirely engrossing exploration of the issues. The production encompasses three short plays based around the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. The first, "Manny and Jake", is the shortest, and unfortunately also the least effective of the three. Adam Freeman is capable in the role of Jake, providing the neccessary amount of sleaze and male single-mindedness required by the role. But Leo Sio seems almost too "nice" to be believeable as the sexually precocious Manny. The interaction between the two is charged with a very real sense of sexual tension, although the dialogue becomes somewhat stilted at times. As a result, many of the in-jokes and witticisms were lost in the effort of actually saying the lines. The very basic set suits the dialogue-driven play well, as does the simplistic styling of props. Overall, the play fails to reach its full potential: Sio and Freeman fail to ever really capture and develop the meaning behind the words, giving the play a lack of polish. Not so the second play, the humorous "Safe Sex", featuring David Dellit and Ben McMillan in the alternating roles of Ghee and Mead, centring on an argument between the lovers. The title piece is the most polished of the three, as the dialogue flows smoothly and swiftly between the two actors with an ease of characterisation conspicuously missing from the first. The set takes a more elaborate part this time, consisting of a see-saw like structure on which the actors sit and address each other from opposite ends. The device is effective, with the physical motion of the see-saw giving the argument emphasis as well as adding a comic element to the action. Dellit and McMillan work well together as the feuding couple, capitalising on the comic opportunities in the script. In terms of laughs it's the most entertaining of the three plays. The action takes a seriously dramatic turn in the last play, "On Tidy Endings". The story revolves around the AIDS-related death of Colin and the relationship between three survivors: Colin's gay lover Arthur (played by director Drew Mason), ex-husband of Marion (Virginia Jay) and father of teenager Jimmy (James Cook). The subject matter is sobering, and there are few laughs to break the mood, but Drew Mason makes it more than worthwhile as the resentful Arthur, managing to draw more than a few tears from the audience towards the end. Virginia Jay is likeable as ex-wife Marion, although she seems to take a little while to really get into the rhythm of the character, and James Cook is satisfactory in his role as Jimmy for the little required of him. Another brief appearance is that of Lisa Cunningham, who plays the abrasive lawyer June with the required amount of dislikeability. The set, based in the soon-to-be-empty apartment of Arthur and Colin, is thoroughly depressing in its loneliness, which suits the script in both mood and theme. "On Tidy Endings" presents the audience with the show's most moving scenes, the most memorable, Arthur's matter-of-fact yet heartfelt description of the slow deterioration and death of Colin over the years. Overall Safe Sex succeeds in being able to hold the attention of the audience for the entirety of the two-hour running time. Despite a somewhat disappointing start with "Manny and Jake", the next two plays more than make up for it, with some quality performances and well thought out direction by Drew Mason. Nash have managed to tackle complex issues without becoming too moralistic, making Safe Sex an altogether entertaining and worthwhile experience. — Jasmine Green (Performance seen: 30th November 2001) www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine Relatively Speaking API Theatre Alan Ayckbourn, "master" of the light English comedy, wrote Relatively Speaking in 1965, and it is an appropriate choice for the API community theatre company, for this is a play that offers an audience a series of comic mishaps and some light-hearted titters before they head home for a nice cup of tea. Given that API is an amateur performance group, this is an adequate presentation of Ayckbourn's work but it fails to realise the play’s full comic and dramatic potential. API theatre does indeed fulfil its motto “the friendly group”. Originally established as a social club for Australia Post and Telecom employees, the group currently stages performances at the Hamilton town hall. There is a friendly, relaxed and supportive atmosphere in the hall as the (generally older) community support their local theatre company. There is even a raffle at intermission! Set in the UK, Relatively Speaking is about a series of mistaken identities that centre on a young couple Ginny (Racheal Leigh Johnson) and Greg (Anthony West). The play opens at Ginny’s flat in London where Greg has decided to ask Ginny to marry him. Due to a series of errors, Ginny and Greg both end up at Sheila and Phillip’s house in the English countryside. Sheila and Phillip are an older couple who Greg believes to be Ginny’s parents. Sheila is rather hysterically played by Robyn Henry, while Jeff Mitchell gives a convincing performance as Phillip. The ensuing comedy is based on both couple’s infidelities (be they real or imagined). In the opening scene, Ginny is racing around trying to get ready to catch a train as Greg makes fun of her. In what should be fast and furious opening, this scene drags and fails to introduce the comic tone of the play. Perhaps due to a self-conscious attempt at the English accent, Racheal Leigh Johnson’s performance comes across as a little wooden and over-restrained. In contrast, new talent Anthony West’s Greg is full of energy, life and humour. This is a “plumber turned thespian” to watch — he pitches the comedy at exactly right level of theatricality, and successfully realises Greg’s rambling style of storytelling. But even he cannot revive this scene, and the play plods on. The production begins to lift in a scene between Greg and Phillip. Both actors bring a sense of humour and frustration to this scene which builds to a strong climax and has the audience giggling at the characters’ confusion. Regrettably, this was one of the few scenes that had any dramatic structure. Director Col Hamblyn takes a far too "static" approach to this play: the characters seem to spend most of their time seated on chairs, and the dialogue is not developed or shaped within each scene. In fact, there seemed to be too little directorial input. What this script needs is a fast-paced comic style, concise blocking and multi-dimensional performances, aspects which are not realised in this production. One highlight of the play is the elaborate box set of an English country garden created by designer Ken Latter. But even an attractive set could not save this comedy that begins slowly and fails to pick up the pace. However, I must say that this amateur performance seemed to be enjoyed and appreciated by the local community. — Joanne Loth (Performance seen: 23rd November 2001) www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine My Friend Miss Flint Centenary Theatre Group My Friend Miss Flint is a prime example of broad brush British humour, in this case taking a sledgehammer approach to the perennial bane of everybody’s life: income tax and the threat of coming under the scrutiny of the taxation office. When you’re in the hands of a dodgy accountant, the chances of scrutiny are immediately multiplied, and when the dodge includes inventing a person who gradually takes on a life of her own, you have a perfect set-up for a comedy of errors. The first half of the play which sets the scene is a little slow-moving. Most of the responsibility for laughs depends on Shane Cassidy, as naïve academic gardener-turned-media-personality-about-town, Tom Lambert. Unfortunately, this responsibility weighs so heavily on his shoulders that he spends most of the time putting the ham into amateur, roaring his way through a performance that is so over-the-top it has nowhere to go when a laugh-line needs that extra mile, or even inch. He has an easier time of it, and settles down much more, in the second half of the show, when the plot escalates through a series of increasingly convoluted misunderstandings (some innocent and some contrived) among several characters who come into their own. Of these, Godfrey Bathurst stands out as Albert Larkin, domestic cleaner and artful dodger extraordinaire of taxes. He brings a nice touch of laconic world-weariness to a part that moves from bystander to the core of one of the funniest scenes in the show. He shares that scene with Cynthia Lens, the prim Director of Taxes played by Anne Lyons. She gets some great lines and set pieces but doesn’t always make the most of them, in a performance that is a little studied. Rahnie Grainger, on the other hand, does sass to a T, as the mysterious Lucy Napier. Rob Attenborough oils his way through the key role of Tax Inspector Gilbert Dodds with just the right amount of unctuous deviousness, while Selina Kadell plays Sarah Davenport, his natural opponent — the accountant who is the witting architect of the whole scam — smoothly and with a nice degree of understatement. And the whole troupe sustains a very credible range of very English accents. The action takes place in Tom Lambert’s living room, and the setting — by Godfrey Bathurst wearing his stage designer/constructor hats — is a very busy one for the size of the stage, so the cast do well to avoid its hazards in the more physical moments. There is, too, an overabundance of plastic greenery, to hammer in the point of the residential green thumb. But then, you could say that all of that is in keeping with the spirit of the play, for which subtlety is not the byword. And, as director Audrey Thompson points out, there is nothing deep and meaningful about this production. It aims to be a nice night’s very light entertainment, and in that, the audience was not disappointed at the well-attended performance I attended. — Anne Ring (Performance seen: 18th November 2001) www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine Don Quixote Queensland Ballet Francois Klaus's fresh interpretation of the classic Spanish tale of knight-errant and faithful servant is a kaleidoscope of visual and musical delight. With the focus firmly on Cervantes' befuddled romantic and his hopeless quests, veteran Paul Boyd is truly superb in the central role of Quixote. His dextrous swordplay against his own giant shadow, his tilting at back-projected windmills, stoushes with monks and reverence for his idealised lady Dulcinea are beautifully danced. Anthony Lewis as the long-suffering Sancho Panza is the perfect foil to his erratic master's excesses. Earthy and wily, fully aware that the self-appointed knight he serves is a raving lunatic, he does his best to minimise Don Quixote's self-harm, and even serves at times as his faithful horse Rocinante. The always delightful Kimberley Davis dances the peasant-girl Dulcinea with quirky mischief, even adding a special charm to chicken-plucking, while Tracey-Lee Heilbronn as the vision of Dulcinea invests her mystical appearances with swirling grace. And then we have Jens Weber and Hayley Farr as the young lovers Basilio and Kitri. What splendid work they do, most memorably in the classic pas de deux to Minkus's music at the beginning of Act 2. Weber's absolute confidence and poise as he executes his gravity-defying leaps showed an appreciative audience what a good catch Klaus made when he recruited this talented young dancer from Germany. An original concept in this production is setting the Quixote story in the midst of the making of a contemporary film of the ballet. (Is it meant to remind us of the 1972 movie filmed in a Melbourne airport hangar, and starring Rudolf Nureyev, Robert Helpmann and Louise Aldous with the Australian Ballet?) It's an interesting and successful approach, allowing the dancers to become "real people", smoking and chatting when not performing for the camera. The set, however, could have been made more like a movie sound stage, littered with cameras, lights, dolly tracks, scaffolding etc., rather than depending on a single camera and a clapper board to represent the movie-making. The device allows the Quixote story to be, at different times, a conventional ballet being filmed, and the Quixote dancer's dream, allowing for a dazzling range of settings and costumes. Contemporary scenes, including a bar scene as well as mindless crowds traversing the streets to skyscraper backdrops, prove very effective. The corps de ballet provide energetic support to the principals of a consistently high standard, while Thomas Woods' Queensland Orchestra provide a full-bodied sound for the variety of works and composers involved. — John Henningham (Performance seen: 16th November 2001) www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine A Pitchfork Disney Better Than Nuthin' Productions The only thing my esteemed editor told me about The Pichfork Disney was that it was at La Boite, and it was about chocolate. "Mmmmm, chocolate," I drooled Homer Simpson-style. Maybe this play will explain why chocaholics (ie, me) can devour a 250g block of Cadbury Top Deck and still feel hungry enough to down their own weight in Toblerone and M&Ms not two hours later? This and other important cocoa-bean related issues I thought would be the subject of this oddly-titled play. I wasn't quite right. This play is really hard to describe. I know I say that about all the plays I review, but I swear, I was just being lazy those times. (Hee hee). I'll leave the description to the program, which states "What do you do when the bad dreams you keep having walk through the door and asked what happened to Mummy and Daddy?" That sums it up better than I could. After all, I was expecting a story that included Willy Wonka somewhere. Presley Stray (Damien Cassidy) and Haley Stray (Melinda Butel) are twins. They still live in the house they grew up in, except their parents haven't been around for the last ten. They live in filth, and only go outside to pick up the pills that keep them sane, and the chocolate that gives them sustenance. Yes, chocolate, sweet giver of life. But back to the story. These 28-year-old twins are emotional and physical wrecks — they live in pyjamas, gorge on chocolate, and have to take pills to sleep. They are plagued by nightmares, and talk in childish routine about their youth, their parents and their dreams. Haley falls asleep, calmed by sucking on a dummy dipped in her parents' medicine. Free of his sister's fears, Presley opens the door to the outside world and lets in Cosmo Disney (Yalin Ozucelik). A confident yet extremely homophobic showman in an outrageous red jacket, Disney engages in spirited conversation with Presley, who thinks the stranger is beautiful and wants to be his friend. Disney has a grossly disfigured assistant, Pitchfork Cavalier, yet despite the presence of these visitors, Haley remains asleep. I have to say straight off that the performances in this show are just superb. Butel and Cassidy are fabulously disturbed as the Strays (note the clever surname that ties in with the themes of parental abandonment and isolation), and even though I didn't like Butel at first, she really grew on me and I found it disappointing that she spent so much of the play asleep in a chair. Cassidy plays Presley to perfection — his mannerisms, his voice, everything is believable and real. He also deals well with the huge monologues of his character, which in the hands of a lesser actor could have really dragged the show down. Ozucelik's Cosmo Disney, all movement and showmanship, provides most of the play's humour. The pace is great over all, but Ozucelik especially keeps it moving. And Jonathan Brand as the freak Pitchfork Cavalier is slightly off-putting to this reviewer who's been scared of gimp masks ever since Pulp Fiction. But great nonetheless in a role that requires great focus and physical control. But to the play itself. I can't really tell you much more about the story — because I'm not sure myself. It's confusing and messed up. I don't mean messed-up in a bad, suicidal-teenager-messed-up way, but in a good, challenging-theatrical-conventions-and-making-you-think way. On the Natalie's Dad-o-meter, it's got laughs and chocolate (the chocolate theme really does work well), but it's also hard to follow and very dark and disturbed in places. My major criticism of the script would be that so much is left unexplained, and I can only draw so many conclusions without help. I would have liked to know just what happened to the twins' parents, and also how much of what went on with Disney and Pitchfork was real and what was not. Again, that may have been the point, but hey, I'm a theatre bogan, remember? The set, lighting and sound design are well done so that the atmosphere of the play is perfectly established. To the good performances already mentioned I'd add good direction from Jamie Dawson. The play, at just over an hour and a half, is tight and enthralling throughout. It should also be said that Better Than Nuthin! productions, who put on the show in association with La Boite, chose interesting and original material to experiment with, and it's definitely worth a view. But if you're expecting fun with chocolate, you're in for a surprise! — Natalie Bochenski (Performance seen: 8th November 2001) www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine Molly Sweeney Queensland Theatre Company A respected actor/playwright confided his agreement with my recent negative comments about monologue-centred plays, adding that the technique was relatively easy for writers, but hard work for actors and audiences — actors because of their long uninterrupted spiels, and audiences because they have to mutely take the part of the imagined adversary/actor. So it was with some misgivings that I approached a play in which three actors tell the story entirely through monologues. Indeed I cravenly considered flicking it to one of my hard-pressed stable of reviewers. In the event, I'm glad I didn't. Molly Sweeney turns out to be quite an absorbing evening, featuring a lively script, beautiful effects and brilliant acting. The gentle and bewildered Molly is captured quite beautifully by Helen Howard, who takes us on Molly's strange journey, from her touching childhood memories of her father's teaching her about flowers, through her manipulation by her pompous eye surgeon and irrepressible husband through to her final tragedy. David Clendinning effectively portrays the surgeon, Mr Rice, driven by his professional memories and feelings of what might have been, while Iain Gardiner is a delight as the well-intentioned but totally irresponsible do-gooder Frank who marries Molly and sets out to solve her "problem". The three actors spend the entire performance sitting on chairs facing the audience. (As arts journalist Brett Debritz quipped, "the blocking must have been easy".) A shimmering blue background and the sound of surf evoke Molly's love of swimming. Some deft fiddle work helps with reminiscences of Irish partying. Director Jennifer Flowers has brought these elements together well, but obviously, none of it could have worked without Brian Friel's clever script (which would also be ideal as a radio play). His ear for language is evident, and his "gift of the gab" is pronounced, even for an Irishman. Moreover, he uses techniques to make the monologue style more bearable, such as having the actors break into dialogues with themselves, imitating the other characters. The overall effect of the play is one of sadness at the harm wrought by well-intentioned people's attempts to define and solve the problems of others. Frank's cheerful little story about his and his mate's futile attempt to save a pair of badgers is a powerful image for the way Molly is treated, which lingers in memory long after this touching play has ended. — John Henningham (Performance seen: 15th November 2001) www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine The Seagull Trocadero Productions "I'm in mourning ... for my life." This line from the opening scene of sums up The Seagull's theme of unrealised hopes and dreams: the characters, never happy with their own lot, are in constant yearning for something out of their reach. The comedy arises from the fact that the characters are also painfully conscious of the ridiculousness of these yearnings. These comic and tragic aspects of Chekhov's drama are beautifully presented in Brett Heath's current production. It works particularly well in its comedy, although its tragic elements in the second half are not quite as successful. The story is of a young woman in the country, Nina, who falls in love with a famous author, Boris, and follows him to Moscow. In the play, Nina's ensuing demise is represented by a seagull that has been shot. The play opens at a country house by a lake where the famous actress Irena is returning for holidays with her lover, the writer Boris. Irena's son Kostya, a struggling writer madly in love with Nina, becomes increasingly jealous and enraged at Boris' success in writing and love. Other characters in the play have their own personal tragedies. For example, Marsha who is loved by the schoolmaster Simon is hopelessly in love with Kostya, and Irena's brother Peter regrets not living the life he dreamed of. Each character's story is given loving attention, highlighting Chekhov's theme of tragedy in everyday life. By the fourth act of the play the characters can no longer see any humour in their situation. Central to the production's success is the new translation by David Clendinning which uses clear, modern expressions to ensure Chekhov's story is both accessible and highly dramatic. The production also takes advantage of the intimate space of the Metro Arts Studio (a small rehearsal space) to create a relaxed style. As the action unravels the actors watch from chairs on the side of the space, clearly establishing an informal "storytelling" style. The set, costumes and lighting are simple and effective. In particular the contrast between hay on the floor and Irena's sumptuous gown serves to accentuate Irena's snobbery in relation to country life. The pacing is slow and relaxed, allowing Chekhov's story to unfold. Heath achieves just the right balance between realism and theatrical exaggeration. The comedy is not forced but emerges as the characters realise the absurdity of their own situation. Heath also delivers a convincing performance as Boris the self-absorbed writer, matched by Dragitsa Debert who perfectly portrays Irena, the self-obsessed drama queen who will pull out all her "emotional tricks" to keep the man she loves. Anna Vella occasionally over-pitches her performance of Nina, but convincingly conveys her character's youthful energy. Highlights of the production include a scene in which Nina and Boris are flirting. This scene draws the audience into the characters' anticipation and the awkwardness and self-consciousness of their courtship. As Boris dramatically exclaims "I'm passionate ...", the audience feels Nina's rush of excitement until he continues "... about writing". In a final scene in which Nina and Kostya meet after several years apart, the other characters sit against the cyclorama (the movie screen of the studio, used to excellent effect). This creates a feeling of starkness and cold reality as the true extent of Nina's tragedy is revealed. However, it is when the story moves into tragedy that the performances weaken. Generally the actors don't manage extremes of emotions as well as the subtle comedy of the first half of the play, and their voices often seem strained as they tackle the emotional heights. This is a fault that is forgiven by the intimate space of the rehearsal studio. (However I would like to see how cast members tackle a larger theatre space.) Michael Sams as Kostya deals most successfully with the range of emotions as we follow his story from idealistic love to disillusionment. I felt that in this production it was not Nina's story but Kostya's that was the real tragedy. Overall, I highly recommend this production, which is able to draw an audience into Chekhov's tale through the honesty and informality of its performance style. — Joanne Loth (Performance seen: 2nd November 2001) www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine The Women Mixed Company The Women was a highly successful play and film in the 1930s. Mixed Company shows that Clare Boothe Luce's satire about catty New York socialites with too much time on their hands still manages to get the sharp end of its claws pretty close to the bone. And it does so in a stylish production that sparkles with witty exchanges from the pen of an author who knew her way around an epigram just as well as the likes of Dorothy Parker, Noel Coward and Oscar Wilde. Creartive's Art Deco style printed program sets the scene. The advertisements for cosmetics that it reproduces from the 1930s are, sadly, still all too topical, and the biographical notes come with a nice twist: each of the all-female cast offers her favourite quote, in a tacit bit of lid dipping to Luce's talents in this area. The play itself has a wonderful range of roles for women. Between them, the 14 actors play 35 parts, up and down the social scale, and covering several ages and stages of womanhood. Their reflections on ageing, youth and beauty show that these themes are hardy perennials, and mirror the insecurities of women as clearly now as they did then. Which is not to say that only women will find this play entertaining. The man behind me spoke for the audience as a whole with his comment, in between laughs, that "this is excellent". Under Simone de Haas' direction, the actors have pulled out all stops to make this set of shallow New Yorkers come alive. There are a number of central roles, played almost to perfection (barring a very few fluffed lines on opening night). Paulene Campton is the too-good wife Mary; Janet Devlin the incorrigible gossip Sylvia. Laura Wilde — who has moved forward in time from her recent performance as Henry James' emotionally repressed Heiress — plays the more outspoken but still repressed housewife Edith (who keeps her place by turning a blind eye). Geraldine Chaplin-lookalike Julie Cotterell is the naïve Peggy, Debra Chalmers the over-the-top, French-spouting Countess perpetually looking for love along the champ d'amour, while Bree Hawkins is Jean Harlowesque vamp and bitch goddess, Crystal Allen. The rest of the actors — Tracy Ollington, Susan Stenlake, Rachel Nowitzke, Elspeth Peake, Xanthe Beesley, Justine Campbell, Anke Willems and Adrienne Morgan — get to play all the other roles, which means that — for the most part — they demonstrate a dazzling capacity to shift in and out of character without missing a beat. Of all those roles, the only one that didn't quite gel was that of Little Mary, showing how difficult it is for an adult to put over a gollywog-clutching young child, especially when — in some positions — she is looking over her mother. What the actors must have seen as a great bonus in this production is what the women in the audience would have given their eye teeth for: the opportunity to wear some truly gorgeous clothes. Remarkably, almost all of the many elegant copies of styles that constituted a stunning parade of '30s fashions were made by de Haas, wearing her other hat of costume designer and constructer, and they are all elegantly monochromatic, to match the stage settings. With everything else so flawless, the use of a messy curtain as the exit from stage left was a bit puzzling. Overall, Mixed Company's production of The Women is an absolute delight in every way, and shows — once again — that the company is one of Brisbane's relatively unsung treasures. It is, clearly, run by dedicated artists whose signal success in meeting its goal of "comedy entertainment in an atmosphere of creative excellence" means that Brisbanites have yet another opportunity of loosing themselves in a laughter-filled evening at a time when there is little to laugh about in the world around us. — Anne Ring (Performance seen: 1st November 2001) www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine The Pirates of Penzance Essgee Entertainment They're back, as the ads say, and indeed the Jon English/Simon Gallaher version of the Gilbert & Sullivan chestnut The Pirates of Penzance is a cheerful addition to the pre-Christmas line-up. The addition of Gerry Connolly and the Ten Tenors make it worth another visit. It is pleasing for those of us who are devotees of G&S (even in their original form!) that the Essgee production retains most of Gilbert's brilliant script. Gilbert's clever satires of late-Victorian institutions provide a satisfying underlay to the farcical plots. Pirates is an elaborate spoof on the prevailing code of honour of the very pukka British army, where young subalterns were schooled into embracing the values of chivalry, duty and unthinking obedience. (The subtitle of the operetta is "The Slave of Duty".) Even the pirates are committed to this code, with their refusal to engage with weaker parties or to harm orphans. Indeed, the valour and code of honour of the young officers (including the nobly-born pirates) is contrasted with the perfidy and cowardice of the major-general, suggesting a layer of upper-level corruption in control of the honourable if naive men who served as junior officers. (A generation later, this was the class of men to be sacrificed in the trenches of Europe.) But few will be detained by such meditations in the midst of the uproarious fun that is the English/Gallaher Pirates. Both the principals hold their own very well. English is as entertaining as ever with his set-piece chest displays and constant cutting of his hands with his own sword. He's a little less agile than in the past and his exhaustion after the many "Catlike Tread" encores didn't need much acting. Gallaher has actually improved over time in the role of Frederick, with confident singing including a remarkable sostenuto. Gerry Connolly is an absolute treat. While amusing enough as the Major-General, who would have expected cameo appearances in the two roles for which he is best known: the Queen and Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen? Her Majesty makes a surprise entry at the beginning to remind us of the long association between queens and the performing arts, while the Major-General morphs into Joh and gives us a tirade in the old tradition. It's brilliant comedy which makes one nostalgic for '80s Queensland and the political comedy the era generated. Those who still cherish memories of the contortionist gymnastics of india rubber man Tim Tyler may be disappointed at the switch to a more traditional singing role for the Sergeant of Police, but David Gould's basso profundo is a delight, as are his own comedy capers. Sheila Bradley is a very appropriate Ruth, trying to win Frederick's heart through deceit about the significance of their age disparity, while Carmell Parente is a charming Mabel, although a little uncomfortable with some of the vocal challenges. It was a stroke of genius to involve the Ten Tenors. While perhaps some of the choreography and fight scenes are less exciting than we've seen before, the quality of their singing is superb, with nice harmonic work from their very first appearance. And the Tenors do put on a splendid show as ragamuffin foils to English's crazed Pirate King. For me the use of a brassy, beehive-coiffed trio (previously the Singlettes, now the Fabulettes) to substitute for Major Stanley's bevy of beautiful daughters was always the least successful part of the Essgee production. Not only do we lose the visual appeal of a stage full of giggling, parasol-wielding young things daring to expose their ankles in order to paddle in the Cornish waters, but against the Ten Tenors the ladies, despite their valiant efforts, are rather overwhelmed vocally, especially in such set piece numbers as "Hail Poetry". There is some interpolated music which generally adds little, but all the big Pirates numbers are there and are performed with the level of energy one would expect. The small orchestra of keyboards plus percussion thump out good musical support (with a rogue trombone in there for one significant flatulent moment involving Connolly), and together with their conductor Kevin Hocking they add to the entertainment with their musical and physical interactions with the pirates. Back in '94 the auditory overload was actually quite painful to the ears, but this time the sound balance is just right. — John Henningham (Performance seen: 1st November 2001) www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine |
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