This very diverse 80-minute selection has ‘curtain-up’ at 8.00 pm nightly until Saturday 10^th September.

For all of the plays, the stage has black drapes on all sides and various tables and chairs.

The quality lighting and sound design were by John Spurling and operated by Evan Skinner.

‘Widow’s Peak’ was written and directed by WA’s Noel O’Neill.

      It is 1917 in a small, sparsely furnished room in Eire. Two middle-aged women, Peggy (Denice Byrne) and Siobhán (Mairead Dempsey) are dressed in their widow’s weeds discussing the loss, some months earlier in The Rising, of their husbands at the hands of the Black and Tans.

     As they share a drink, young Moira (Roisin Nash) who is also a widow, calls around. They notice she has a ‘bump’, and her husband has been dead for almost a year – could it be a miracle? On the other hand, has Moira been unfaithful to her husband’s memory? The older women have plenty to say.

This is a beautiful tale, touching, humorous with a powerful and angry message in the storyline. Noel has a wonderful ability to write dialogue that flows naturally, and with which everyone can connect. The three women are typical of those in a small community, and are portrayed perfectly and with genuine emotional depth by the cast. A fresh topic, most enjoyable.

‘Moby Dick’ is a 25-minute farce, in the unruly style known as ‘coarse acting’; which is a skit with things going wrong in theatre. This madcap adaption of the 685-page novel by Herman Melville was by Mike Green. Directed by Sarah Christiner.

        A thumbs-up signal from the wings to the bio box sets the amateur approach (as deliberately requested in the script) of this talentless, but self-admiring troupe to community theatre.

       The lights come up, and Ishmael (David Heder) makes a false entrance and exits quickly. He re-enters and does a short monologue, mispronouncing numerous words. He wanders into a local pub searching for crew, where he sees the landlady (Noah Humich) and a serving wench (Eileen Leake) taking jugs of beer to a rabble in the corner. Starbuck (Michael Dornan), Elijah (Phil Barnett) and friends are the worse for wear and volunteer for his crew.

       A scarred seaman (Sarah Christiner) says he knows a talented harpooner, the highly tattooed Queegueg (Josh Harris). As a carpenter (Kit Leake) joins the crew, the pub doors fly open and an old salt, Captain Ahab (Chris Thomas) staggers in on his peg leg. He wants to join the gang and wreak revenge upon the white whale, known as Moby Dick who ate his limb!

There follows a series of quick-fire scenes, all of them a shambles. Props fail, the actors are under rehearsed, and the play staggers from bad to worse.

Director Sarah Christiner has grasped the fact that this type of sloppy presentation actually requires hard work, slick staging, with the actors retaining unflinching, poker faces. This shambolic style of presentation is similar to that in the ‘Farndale Avenue Housing Estate’ series of plays. I found Farndale to be annoying as they are so close to the truth, whereas with Moby Dick, because the whole genre is slapstick, the pandemonium works so much better.

There were plenty of belly laughs, fun props and the genre well presented. However, I think the audience could be split 50/50, with some absolutely detesting the style.

‘Under The Rainbow’ was the evening’s second play written and directed by Noel O’Neill.

      The scene is several years after Dorothy’s magical trip to see ‘The Wizard of Oz’.

      Still dressed in scarlet shoes and her pale blue, gingham check dress, Dorothy (Valerie Dragojevic) goes to a rundown bar, known as ‘Under the Rainbow’. Despite the colourful rainbow design and the twinkling lights on the bar front, the barman known, as Wiz (Noel O’Neill) is less than welcoming.

    Cackling in the corner is Witchy (Lindsay Cliff, alternating with Siobhán Robertson-Skinner), an enchantress who is determined to ruin Dorothy’s night. Seated at a table, with party hats on their heads, are three old friends, soft-hearted Leo (Yad Sand), callous Rusty (Cameron Leese) and the lovable, but brainless, Mr Crow (Andrew Hobbs). Sadly, for Dorothy, as the evening goes on, the original warmth of the groups seems missing.

Many of us will have been to school reunions, and for some it is fun and a great success, for others it can be a regrettable embarrassment. Likewise, this dark comedy is really quite poignant, giving us an ingenious and novel look at a possible sequel of the world famous tale.

The cast were delightful, with each member totally embracing their characters.

The array of plays ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous, so you are guaranteed to enjoy yourself.

‘It’s All Greek to Me Too!’ is Noel O’Neill’s magnificent sequel to the play that wrote just over two years ago, ‘It’s All Greek to Me’. This is even funnier than the original, and that was a sell-out! Even though Noel writes about two or three plays a year, the standard of his writing, dialogue and the superbly constructed script, ensures a happy audience. This play has a laugh in every line. It is wonderful to see so many of the original actors returning.

This 2-hour comedy can be seen at the Old Mill Theatre, on the corner of Mill Point Road and Mends Street, South Perth on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8.00, until the 27^th February. The Sunday matinees are at 3.00 pm on the 14^th and 21^st, with all proceeds going to the South West Bushfire Appeal.

The setting is a northeast London suburb, at Christmas 1960. The scenery (designed and built by Noel O’Neill) is that used in the first play, comprising the kitchen and lounge room of the crazy Greek Clan – the Pilancous ‘Plank’ Family. The music from ‘Zorba the Greek’ is playing as the house lights dim. Very good lighting and sound effects, thanks to John Spurling and his occasional helper, John Woolrych.

Jenny Prosser’s costumes reflected the era perfectly, in both style and the materials used. The hairdos brought a smile too. Well stage managed by Melissa Munoz Escobar.
In the first play ‘It’s All Greek To Me’, Nicky Plank arranged for his cousin Stavros, living in a dump somewhere in Greece, to get married to his unsuspecting London neighbour, Circe.

      Only months after the wedding, disillusioned Circe (Nada Dilevska), leaves her husband Stavros (Andre Balzelli) and returns to London. Because Nicky (Kim Taylor) and his long-suffering wife, Athena (Vivienne Marshall) generously paid for the couple’s wedding, she blames them for her misery and places a curse on the family.

      Nicky and Athena’s daughter, Jenna (Valerie Dragojevic) is due to have her baby any day now – perhaps even Christmas Day. The family friend, Andronikos (Rex Gray), who is a potent oracle and surrounded by a powerful aura, is summoned to help them.

      The youngest Plank son, Dimitri (Cameron Leese), is well named, as his IQ is probably negative. Nicky, now with two un-married relatives again, recommences the matchmaking routine. He brings around a friend’s beautiful daughter, Christiana (Sofie Reidy-Crofts) in a desperate attempt to marry off Dimitri, but the son seems quite interested in the even more brainless, Katarina (Aimee Claire Nicholls).

      Randy Nicky goes around the houses, collecting seasonal ‘gifts’ from his lady friends, Cassandra (Berti Moso) and Irena (Charlotte Weber).

      Will Athena discover Nicky’s misdemeanours? Will anyone become wedded, or even remain married.

Director Noel O’Neill, and his assistant Valerie Dragojevic, both have a wealth of experience in comedy direction; what a magnificent show they have given us. The multitude of laughs was perfectly delivered by the wonderful cast. Each actor had a rich character to portray, and this they did with superb team chemistry. A special mention for Kim Taylor and Vivienne Marshall’s performances. Kim with his hilarious lack of conscience, and Vivienne’s desperate desire to advance the family’s welfare.

A really good, side-splitting start to the Old Mill’s 2016 season.

The theatre’s new committee have literally, laid down the red carpet to lead you into a plush, casino-like environment. Their aim is to raise enough money to replace their old element lamps with LEDs, and to renew the sound system.

The scene is the sitting room of a 1960s house in the East End of London. A very good set, with all of the trimmings and furniture of the era (artistic director Mary Murphy).

Around the dining room table, a group of men are playing cards. They are Bert, the overbearing house owner (Kim Taylor – magnificent), his simple son Harold, who hasn’t two brain cells to rub together (Cameron Leese) and Bert’s best friend, quiet Eddie (Noel O’Neill) who has just been released from prison. The group are gambling with peanuts for money, but Harold keeps eating the winnings.       

Next to the fire, reading the paper is Bert’s other son, the lazy good-for-nothing, Alan (David Buckley); in the opposite corner sits suave young Billy, a criminal in the making (Emilio Evans). This gang have decided to raise cash for a trip to America, and think that voluptuous Susan (Clare Mulchinock), who has a wealthy husband, may be the answer to their prayers.

The experienced director, Noel O’Neill and his most capable assistant, Caroline O’Donnell, have amazingly turned, what could easily have been a static sitcom, into an action-filled romp. The characters were perfectly believable; in fact, we have all met, or ‘know’, most of the individuals. The cleverly written dialogue was unique to each personality, with some very funny one-liners. Half the cast were relatively newcomers, but they were not distracted by having to speak with Cockney accents – all VERY accurate – and yet they still managed to keep up with the rapid pace.

Booking is essential, and The Irish Players have linked on to the ‘www.trybooking’ system, so that you will know in advance the number of seats still available. An excellent cast, working perfectly in tune with each other, generating a wonderful evening of chuckles. Highly recommended.