Reviewed by Ceri Horner
October 2011
One Toe In The Grave is not your typical fast paced frenetic comedy and is not quite as witty as you might expect from author Jack Sharkey.
The plot is aptly ridiculous. Jason’s work requires him to be married, which he isn’t. So Jason pretends his wife has a rare disease, which explains her absence at work functions. Jason’s world is thrown into turmoil when a cure for the disease is accidentally discovered and his boss wants to demonstrate the cure on his non-existent wife.
Director Robert Andrews has assembled a mixed cast who do not work together as a cohesive team and deliver some uneven performances. The cast also use English or neutral accents for the duration of the play which is set in New York. However, Andrews set is terrific and provides excellent use of the small Tea Tree Players stage.
The main role of Jason is played by a confident Adrian Heness, who has perfected a number of ridiculously comic facial expressions.
Cheryl Douglas plays Nicki the fiancé who is coerced into pretending to be the sick wife and Chris Galipo as Naomi the loyal housekeeper keeps the play chugging along by filling in the narrative.
Bill Wood as Thornton the boss has some excellent funny moments and Jane Kearney as the ditzy Poopsie provides well delivered laughs, ably supported by Sean Venning as Dr Proctor.
Hannah O’Grady has some great comic moments as Vonga the Jungle Girl. Jungle Girl you ask? Well, I did say aptly ridiculous.
