Those who think farce has had its day are wrong. Tea Tree Players, in this case led by the highly experienced director, Barry Hill, know their stuff when it comes to this form of comic theatre. We knew that the company was on-song when, on first seeing Damon Hill’s well designed and attractive box set, we could count half a dozen doors. That’s some comic potential. We could see we were in for some farcical fun. And that’s just what transpired.
Set in the 1930s, the improbable plot concerns an Italian soprano who is to perform in Bizet’s Carmen with the Cleveland Grand Opera. There follows lots of door opening and closing, rapid-fire action, silly misunderstandings, lots of physical gags, plenty of innuendo and a fair sprinkling of funny one-liners.
To succeed, all of that has to be both well acted and timed precisely. This production did that, to the continuous laughter of the opening night full house. The cast was well chosen and uniformly skilled. Heading the action were Dianne Lang as Lucille Wylie, manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera, and Amanda Mai as her submissive assistant, Jo. Both gave very accomplished performances. Lang’s Lucille was demanding, domineering and would-be well organised. She showed her experience and stagecraft at every turn of the plot, and was splendid in her interactions with the other cast members. Further to that, her sense of comedy and the acute timing of her actions and lines were very impressive.
Recently arriving in Adelaide from her native USA, this was Mai’s first production in Australia and she, too, gave a well-honed and – as far as the genre could allow – a nuanced performance. Her characterisation and verbal expression were well controlled and focussed. That was apparent from the outset, and her performance was critical in the building of tension among the play’s many frantic misunderstandings, particularly in the second Act.
Theresa Dolman, ever a Tea Tree crowd favourite, was very funny as the Italian operatic diva – and lush – Elena. She carried her line of the plot with flamboyant Mediterranean bravado and provided some of the play’s best humour. Hers was a highly amusing and entertaining contribution. As her grumpy and demonstrative husband, Pasquale, Jay Mancuso was most convincing. He was boldly expressive and made the most of his scenes, especially later in the action, when interacting with the two younger men, played by Matt Bryker-Oman and Marcus Catt.
Bryker-Oman was very funny as Lucille’s son, Jerry, a lawyer, besotted opera fan and all-round sap. He managed the required extremes of expression with skill, and yet, strangely, remained credible. His misguided affection for, and misunderstanding of, the operatic soprano were palpable. Marcus Catt played Leo, the smarmy and self-obsessed Dutch tenor, with considerable style. As with a number of other characters, Leo is a stereotype, but Catt carried it off with decided conviction. Kristen Webb was studied and thorough, though somewhat naive, as Julia, chair of the Opera committee, while Shannon O’Brien gave a lively and telling performance as the hotel’s bellhop. Her characterisation and energy were striking.
This was a truly entertaining production, sustaining the fun, confusion and frantic energy from beginning to end. And speaking of the end, the curtain calls, a hectic re-run devised by the playwright Ken Ludwig, was a thorough treat – well coordinated and choreographed – and a fitting end to a well-worked comic production.
