Kay McLean Productions and Theatre Royal Bath Productions. Her Majesty's Theatre. 3 December 2014
Hay Fever was written by Sir Noel Coward earlier rather than later in his career in 1925. The great plays like Private Lives and Blithe Spirit were yet to come, and I don't feel that Hay Fever measures up. A comedy of manners concerning horror hosts and hapless house guests at the country estate of the ironically named Bliss family, it is linear in plot and often over hysterical or forced in presentation. The dialogue is not dated, but unfortunately, what were ground-breaking characters satirising the eccentricity of the upper crust in 1925 are now stereotype, and director Lindsay Posner provides an entertaining rendition but nothing new.
There is a Catch 22 with touring shows. You need a star to attract sales but the price goes up to pay for the star and the first class set, which hurts sales. Productions of Hay Fever in the old dart since 2006 have starred the likes of Judi Dench and Diana Rigg in the pivotal role of eccentric family mom Judith Bliss. The Australian leg of the tour has the petite Felicity Kendal famous for her role in the 1970s British sitcom The Good Life, with which she has been subsequently closely identified with.
And the star does a star turn. Kendal's nuances and characterisations as the exasperated mother of two, and wife of a man less than one, are a delight. You can feel the experience of a life in the craft, which, interestingly, includes touring Shakespeare with her parents in India as part of the family business. The rest of the cast are of a very high standard and perform admirably, each having an opportunity to show their character at their worst through amusing expressions. Certainly a highlight of the production is the sheer physicality of the action. Professional touring shows arriving here after a significant run are always well-oiled machines, and this one is exemplary. Set and costumes by Peter McKintosh are rich and detailed.
Seats go for at least $125 on Saturday and it's not good value unless you crave a viewing of Felicity Kendal. Otherwise, save your dough for the Festival.
David Grybowski
When: 3 to 7 Dec
Where: Her Majesty's Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au
Photography by Nobby Clark
Windmill Theatre. Space Theatre. 22 Nov 2014
Perched high upon his hilltop home, Grug sees a rainbow across the sky and tries his best to find it. The closer he gets, the further it seems, but luckily Grug has us to help him find his very own rainbow.
In Windmill’s second adaption from Ted Prior’s series of picture books, ‘Grug and the Rainbow’ draws from several of his stories (including the title book) to bring the much-loved character and his friends to life.
It is performed by Jude Henshall, Nathan O'Keefe & Ellen Steele, who all act both as narrators and puppeteers. They work together like a well-oiled machine, with consistent transitions and movement, whilst still giving each character their own little touches. O’Keefe’s puppetry is particularly lovely, and his vocal utterances as Grug climbs the hills in search of his rainbow and whilst he snoozes in the sun at the beach raise lots of laughs.
Jonathon Oxlade’s cleverly designed set is delightful, featuring three “hills” that are functional but also provide great levels and depth. Each of the hills contains trapdoors that allow peep views into Grug’s home and Snook’s burrow, as well as hidden LED lighting, used deftly to represent the colours of the rainbow.
The numerous puppets, designed and made by artist Stephanie Fisher, are absolutely superb. From the moving parts of his bicycle, to his skis and his workshop tools, you cannot miss the craftsmanship and quality of every piece. The use of different sized puppets in background and foreground compliments the set and provides the kind of thoughtful touches that make this production far more than your average children’s show.
The non-traditional soundtrack, provided by DJ Tr!p, is unexpected yet well-fitted to the wonderfully quirky performance.
‘Grug and the Rainbow’ is amongst the best children’s theatre you will find; don’t miss this gorgeous show.
Nicole Russo
When: 19 to 30 Nov
Where: Space Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au
The Adelaide Repertory Theatre. The Arts Theatre. 20 Nov 2014
Oh, my. Talk about a workout. Ribs, belly, streaming tears...
This is a funny, funny English farce.
It is playwrights Michael and Ray Cooney at their silliest and director Ian Rigney in his prime.
It is a South Australian premiere production and a jewel for the Rep's end of year - and to be hoped the audiences swarm in and reward the company for its good work.
The first act is funny, but it is, as in farce tradition and necessity, the set-up act wherein one gets to know the characters and the situation. So, Tom and Linda are waiting optimistically for the adoption agency's interview woman when Tom's brothers, Dick and Harry, rock up bringing with them Tom's borrowed truck, suddenly full of contraband from Calais, along with a bag full of putrid body parts and two hapless illegal immigrants who can't speak English.
Linda goes out, the brothers create havoc.
Then the comedy escalates. Tom tries to smooth things over - and the more he tries, the more he lies. The police turn up, the adoption woman arrives, the voluptuous alien girl gets the hots for Dick, the alien fellow gets drunk and plays the trumpet, the body parts just won't go away, doors open and close...
It is a good, classic farce set - conservative living room with doors, windows and a short turn staircase to enable all the entrances and exits.
By Act II, cross purposes, cover-ups, subterfuge and more cover-ups are delivered, layer upon layer in an extravaganza of split-second timing and swift footwork.
The cast is right up to the task.
The audience is almost abject with laughter.
James Edwards carries the comic responsibility in the middle of it all as Tom, doing so with a long, lean and quirky physicality in the ilk of John Cleese. He's damned hilarious and gives quite a Fawlty madness to the show.
David Salter adds a big-boned athleticism with astoundingly light footwork and gorgeous comic timing. And then there's Matt Houston as the dumber brother who parries artfully and plays prat.
Lana Adamuszek establishes an air of sweet normality as the wife, Linda in whose absence all mayhem takes place. Stanley Tuck is just right as the policeman who is not as silly as he seems, Glenn Vallen hams it up all over the place as the drunken old alien. John Koch creates a strong cameo as the evil Boris. Penni Hamilton-Smith asserts a stuffy and strident old adoption agency official while Tamara Bennetts, oh, Tamara Bennetts! With an extremely emphasised décolletage, a peasant hanky on her head and a shock of long hair, she lifts the comedy of Katerina, the perhaps
Albanian illegal, into a potent character in her own right. A delicious performance.
A delicious show.
Go.
Samela Harris
When: 20 to 29 Nov
Where: Arts Theatre
Bookings: trybooking.com
Feast Festival. Nexus Cabaret. 16 Nov 2014
Bling go the strings of my heart.
It's Willsy, bedazzling in the ultimate be-spangled garb, the human mirror ball of Feast Festival 2014.
Anne Wills is out of retirement and, with Peter Goers as director, host and compere, she has emerged as the new queen of the gay night. She's had so many husbands, she's settled for gay men as the companionship of a sensible life, she declares. And she has claimed Goers as father of the grown child of her senior years, the divine Matt Gilbertson.
Matt is a gay icon at one end of the Adelaide spectrum and Willsy at the other. With the wit and wisdom of Goers, radio icon of the Naughties, this show is the almost too hot to handle. But wait, there's more. Sister Susan sparkles out to trill as the girls did in Vietnam and then, none other than Mark Trevorrow, Bob Down's alter ego, who left Mr Kitsch at home to do a showman's tribute to Willsy. Consummate performer that he is. And the show's nothing less than an icon overdose.
The hour opens with a comfortable interview routine, Goers prompting Willsy to tell stories of her career. Goers warns that Willsy is a funny girl and Willsy confirms it with a torrent of self-derogatory tales of weather girl experiences in the wild old days of nascent TV not to mention adventures with assorted superstars - Michael Parkinson and William Shatner most famously among them.
Willsy makes her own costumes, which explains the uber-bling and she wears shimmering follow-me-home shoes which, she says, are sitting shoes, absolutely not meant for walking. She has them off before the show is over.
The audience is in seventh heaven. They're mainly Boomers, just like Willsy. Love is in the air.
Then the faux love child swans out. The vastly tall and utterly adorable Matt Gilbertson has left his fish-netted performance persona, Hans the German, on some cabaret catwalk to be the other Matt, the talented pianist. He sings as he accompanies, duets of love with his ersatz stage mum.
Lightning on-stage costume change. A Feast show needs feathers. Willsy flutters coquettishly in a sparkling fluffy confection of a coat and is joined by sister Susan, who emerges in twin garb and flouting a scrap of material which was what passed for a frock back in the mini-dress 60s. The audience is right there on the nostalgia ride. The sisters, looking more and more like their late mum, Queenie, sing a couple of sentimental songs to show they still have the 70s "it".
Mark Trevorrow bounds forth as the climactic act. Willsy, of latter years, has done guest spots on his Bob Down stage shows and he's reciprocating. He's got all the moves. He's stand-out showbiz - capping a fantastic cast. They partner expertly
At show's end, Goers has morphed into Barry Humphries mode, funny and long-suffering amid a song-and-dance grand finale lineup of ebullient good spirit. Retro reigns in all its glory - and then Gilbertson twerks Goers.
Samela Harris
When: 16 and 19 Nov
Where: Nexus Cabaret
Bookings: feast.org.au
Independent Theatre. Odeon Theatre. 14 Nov 2014
This show is a treat, a piece of rivetingly good story-telling.
It is unbelievably tense and suspenseful, superbly acted and directed.
For two hours, it keeps its audience members in rapt attention.
Time becomes immaterial. Interval, coming at a cliffhanger moment, is unbearable. Then again, perhaps one needs a drink.
Certainly the characters do. Their sleep has been broken at 4am by unnerving drama.
It's all pretty breath-taking stuff and this is a credit to Rob Croser's seasoned direction and his astute choice of cast.
The play, lushly written by Alexi Kaye Campbell, is set in Yorkshire in 1937 in a grand but decaying country house occupied by Harold Pritchard, a ruthless mining magnate, impeccably played by Brant Eustice, and his wan wife Elizabeth, still racked by grief at the death of their 12-year-old son a decade ago. Alicia Zorkovic plays this stricken soul with a conviction which ends up searing into the heart. The couple is attended by just one servant, the very busy and capable Eileen who is embodied by a singularly assured and able year 11 student called Heather McNab - definitely a young actress to watch.
Action takes place in the plush old living room with its grand staircase and high crimson-curtained windows. Rob Croser and David Roach's set design is on an imposing scale which creates a dense sense of intimacy in the old Odeon Theatre. A fire crackles in a hidden hearth. A storm rages unstoppably outside, flares of lightning occasionally flashing through the window. The sound is beautifully balanced - prevailing while never dampening dialogue.
Out of the stormy night comes the mining operations man, John Bailey, to make a desperate pitch to save the jobs of 140 of Pritchard's mine workers. Angus Henderson delivers this brave working man with great feeling - the passionate and evocative words of the playwright pulling powerfully on the heartstrings.
Pritchard, in an oversize red smoking jacket but, annoyingly, minus the smoking which would have been very much part of his era, pours himself a drink, hears the man out, and is unmoved. New machines, progress and profit are his business plan. And he has houseguests, old friends from London.
Enter the Avery family. Michael Eustice as Geoffrey, ebullient and immediately likeable. Lyn Wilson, plays his sweet, outgoing wife and it is a performance of power and beauty. She's a beautifully nuanced actress.
Their son, Terence, is a languid and smooth-talking Oxford dropout, a would-be writer who has been exploring the Greece and the classics. He and the Pritchard's dead son, Edgar, were best friends in a childhood he is soon recalling as he visits the house for the first time since his playmate's tragic fate on Bracken Moor.
Will Cox is exquisitely effete as this decadent and opinionated young man and, as the plot evolves, his athleticism and dramatic skills deliver a performance of immense excitement. Complemented by the attendant focus and intensity of the other cast members, some unforgettably gripping scenes are achieved.
David Roach plays Dr Gibbons. Roach is an accomplished actor one loves to watch, but here his character is really just a plot device. He is crucial to the chemistry of the play, but the audience must suspend disbelief. Called to the house at 4am, this funny old doctor casually tells his patient he will be with him later, and lingers in the living room to engage in story-telling.
Sometimes making the hair stand on end or having one jumping in the seat, sometimes to shed a tear, this play makes for a thrilling ride. It delves into some truly terrifying territory. But it also is a well-written think-piece, a morality tale of sorts, which tackles issues of grief and guilt, of workers' solidarity and corporate greed, of war profiteering, of human compassion, of altruism, justice and redemption.
Leave Midsomer Murders and Poirot and catch this night of satisfying suspense in the real live theatre. You won't be sorry,
When: 14 to 22 Nov
Where: Odeon Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au