The Phoenix Variety and Music Group celebrated their return to their home in the Noarlunga Uniting Church hall by staging a neat and well-wrought farce. It was a good choice, definitely suiting their style and talents. The play was well cast, the humour clearly laid out for us, and the audience was enthusiastically responsive. It was an entertaining performance.
For its genre the script gives lots of assistance. The premise is ripe for farcical treatment: Harriett, in order to afford the rent on her Brighton apartment, for two years successfully juggles two “rent paying” lovers, Alec and Gordon. They don’t know about each other and are strictly rostered by Harriett on a weekly basis. Complications build from there. Her old friend Anne arrives, needing marital assistance from Harriett. Gordon is stuck in the flat when he sprains his ankle. People come and go, some jump into and out of bed, doors open and shut, the men’s wives appear, as does Anne’s estranged husband … on it goes. It’s farcical.
This company, led by Director John Martin, made a good fist of it. They handled the required characterisation well, they made much of the many comic lines and physical gags, and generally kept the pace up. The only minor hold ups were a couple of lengthy scene changes and the occasional lapse in timing with the dialogue: not dropped lines, but a little ponderous and studied in the delivery. On balance, though, they were aware of the script’s humour and often had us all laughing aloud.
Deirdre Quinn was steadfast and convincing as Harriett, She handled the plot twists with aplomb, credibly inventing ever more lies to explain them to the various new arrivals in her apartment. Especially funny were her manoeuvrings when inventing and “running” the nursing home. She was the strong central character of the play on whom all the characters, humour and action relied.
The two lovers were well portrayed. Jamie Morman was formal and studied as the businessman Gordon, while Stephen Popowski was genuine and engaging as the trawlerman Alec. Bianca Cook, as Anne, was poised and authentic. She was particularly effective in drawing out her character’s own manipulative and opportunistic streak.
The three spouses, critical to the plot, were well played. Luke Hoffmann, as Anne’s drunken husband Richard, was consistent in his characterisation, if a little overdrawn in his portrayal of drunkenness, where, in fact, on stage less is often better than more. Ailie Levi was self-possessed and upright as Gordon’s overlooked wife, Magda and Bronwyn Calvett showed her depth and experience in bringing to the stage a very believable Mildred, Alec’s wife. Hers was a delightful little cameo.
The set, divided evenly into the flat’s two rooms, was well suited to the action. The wall and doorway between the rooms were in skeletal form, which proved helpful to the action and were well handled by the cast. Importantly, there were sufficient exits to conceal the characters when required, thereby preserving the necessary deceit.
This was a jolly romp, well sustained and warmly appreciated by the audience.
