Producing an entertaining evening of melodrama is a fraught business. The complexity of the storylines are usually tissue thin, the idiosyncrasies of the characters can be gratingly excessive, and the de rigueur entr’acte entertainments, such as community singing and asinine vaudevillian foolishness, can be cringeworthy especially for those of us who scorn audience participation. But, in the skilful directorial hands of Barry Hill OAM, all these reservations rapidly fade into irrelevancy, and the Tea Tree Player’s Theatre production of “The Girl from the Frozen North” by Eddie Cope and Buster Cearley is a genuinely fun night out!
As is to be expected, the story line is silly, and it’s not really worth outlining. Suffice to say, there is an archetypal villain, a dashing hero, a damsel in distress, and various other characters who highlight the qualities of the main three. Despite strenuous and persistent efforts by the villain, the hero succeeds in rescuing the damsel and helps restore a sense of equilibrium to the universe, the villain gets his just deserts, others are shown the errors of their ways, and everyone else lives happily ever after. As part of the melodrama recipe, the fourth wall between cast and audience is never established: characters directly address the audience on occasions, and an MC frequently encourages the audience to boo, hiss, cheer and sigh at appropriate moments. In between acts, the MC also summarises the on-stage action with tongue twisting patter that puts a smile on your face if there isn’t one already! The MC also goads the audience to join in the community singing with gusto, and introduces other ‘entertainments’.
Seasoned performer Brian Godfrey plays the villain J Harrington Cesspool and instead of sporting the usual black cap and top hat he looks somewhat like Riff Raff on steroids. He plays a wonderful caricature. He uses the ridiculousness of his appearance to great effect, including rescuing his modesty from a wardrobe malfunction, but perhaps relies on his appearance too much.
Clinton Nitschke plays the hero Dashiell H Goforth, a dashing Canadian mounted policeman, with great style. Although he most certainly looks and sounds the part, importantly he ‘word paints’ almost everything he says with precise and studied choreographed movement. It’s a joy to watch, and in this we see Barry Hill’s deft hand. Nitschke’s performance is the highlight of the show.
Charlie Klose plays the role of the fair damsel Nettie Neetfoot, and like Nitschke, they are very careful to underscore text with apt movement and gesture that is played ‘straight’ and not forced for cheap laughs, which makes it all the funnier.
Tim Cousins plays the pivotal role of the MC, and he clearly relishes the task. His patter (co-written by Barry Hill and Joshua Coldwell) is an alliterative triumph, and he rarely stumbled. It includes fun contemporary references, especially to Trumpian politics. The audience enjoyed his pomp and bluster, and was putty in his hands. Pleasingly, he was able to deal with impromptu feedback from various members of the audience which made them laugh all the more.
The large cast of twelve was rounded out with Georgia Gustard, Joel Strauss, Cathie Oldfield, Selena Britz, Elizabeth Ferguson and John Hudson, who all created distinct and enjoyable characters. Ashlee Brown and Lachie Blackewell provided much frivolity in two vaudevillian acts – a dance by Harry the Horse, and the world-famous Balloon Ballet.
Lighting was functional, and the sound design assisted in keeping the fourth wall well and truly unseen. Costumes were terrific, and all cast member used them to help establish their characters: they didn’t just wear them. Barry Hill’s set design was a stage within a stage, and nicely executed by Damon Hill. The stage crew’s off-stage efforts in hurling fake snow onto the set to simulate a raging storm was fun to see.
“The Girl from the Frozen North” is some of the most untaxing and uncomplicated theatrical silliness you’ll ever see, and it’s so much fun. Melodrama is so easy to get wrong, but Tea Tree Players Theatre have got this one right!
