This world famous and much-loved story is now being presented by the Stirling Players at the Stirling Theatre, Morris Place, Innaloo. The performances are at 8.00 pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights until the 16^th July. There are also Sunday matinées on the 3^rd and 10^th July at 2.00 pm.

The fascinating foyer displays by Fran Gordon, Bree Vreedenberg and Kevin Forward set the mood. The usherettes are dressed in white and gold with pillbox hats.

It is the winter of 1938-39, just months before the start of the Second World War.

At the side of the stage on the apron is the corner of Laura’s swish sitting room. At the other side of the stage is cinema seating and the lounge in Alec’s flat.

The main stage depicts a railway tearoom furnished with black tables and bentwood chairs. There is a coal stove burning against one wall. To the side is a large, cafe counter with various cakes and crockery. The back wall has a photo of a railway station roof projected onto it (operator Jane Sherwood, with film footage from Fuller Media).

Another scene is a plush, candlelit restaurant brought to life by its dapper waiters, tablecloths and vases of flowers. The effect is completed with an impressive, illuminated chandelier.

A riverside scene is simple, but most effective. Despite the number of settings, each one was fully furnished with numerous props of the era. Fran Gordon, Emma den Hartog and Joel Howe’s costumes were stunning and perfectly selected. It was obvious what a huge amount of work had gone into the set design, furnishings and costumes to create the perfect mood.

      As Dr. Alec Harvey (Glenn Scott) enters the Milford railway station tearoom, he notices a smartly dressed lady trying to wash a mite of train smoke from her eye. She is, Laura Jesson (Maree Andersen) a bored and ignored housewife. As the couple share a table, the tearoom manager, Myrtle (Ann Speicher) watches them, intrigued by the warmth of their conversation. She is initially unaware of the advances being made to her by the stationmaster, Albert (Hadrian Fuller).

     Just as the young waitress, Beryl (Simonne Matthews) clears the tables and puts another lump of coal on the fire, the platform service boy, Stanley (Zack Inglis) comes into the café to have his tray replenished, and to smile longingly at Beryl. Two soldiers on leave, Bill (Damien Johnson) and Johnnie (William Errey) stagger into the café and create havoc.

   The married woman and the married doctor agree to meet for a cinema matinée the following Thursday – purely for the company. We see Laura arriving home; she kisses goodnight to her son, Bobbie (Charlie Motbey) and her daughter, Margaret (Lakeesha Motbey) before trying – unsuccessfully – to have a sensible conversation with her disinterested husband, Fred (Craig Edwards).

     Both with loveless marriages, the couple have no qualms at meeting again. As they enjoy a sumptuous meal after the film, they are unaware that two of Laura’s nosey and interfering neighbours, Hermione (Karin Staflund) and Mary (Liz Pemberton) have spotted them and are approaching in search of gossip.

     How will the love affair develop? Will they make love secretly in this morally unacceptable affair?

      Janet Brandwood and Oliver Kaiser played multiple cameos, giving depth to the storyline.

The musical numbers have been beautifully created and orchestrated by Bree Vreedenburgh, from the copyrighter’s score. The music plays very subtly in the background throughout the play, thanks to smooth operator, Melissa Skeffington. Young Zack and Simonne’s singing was delivered with feeling, and Karin and Liz gave a powerful backing chorus to several songs. Ann brought a smile with her vivacious and saucy delivery. The excellent musical interludes were often used to ‘cover’ the set changes (very efficiently carried out by the cast under the supervision of stage manager Janet Brandwood).

Ian Wilson’s lighting design is always good, but for this show it is exceptional; complex in design and filled with atmosphere. Paul Anderson had the nightmare of operating the numerous changes, but he carried out the task smoothly and with accuracy.

The low point of the play was the dreaded headsets. I appreciate that these can be very expensive, but some crackled and others dropped out. The experienced operator was probably as frustrated as the audience was. I suspect that the complete sound desk needs an overhaul, as even the speakers seemed a little unreliable too. Perhaps ditch the aging headsets and let the performers use their theatre skills? The techs were very aware of the problem, and as it was the preview I was attending, then I am sure the problem will be cleared for the opening night.

The stunningly beautiful and sensitive 1945 David Lean film was in black and white, with very few scenes filmed outside of Carnforth Station. The film’s brilliant camera work was by a Perth born cinematographer, Robert Krasker. The 1945 film was made just after WW2, at a time when virtually no one would have intimate relations before marriage. Then in 1974, just after the Free Love era of the 60s, Carlo Ponti brought out a dreadful, brash Technicoloured version that starred Ponti’s wife, Sophia Loren with Richard Burton. It was fussy, heavy handed and totally without atmosphere.

I was apprehensive as to which style the director, Jane Sherwood, would employ, and could the frustrated love translate to the stage? Thankfully, Ms Sherwood’s version was much nearer the original. Jane can be relied upon to check every aspect of her productions, ensuring depth and reality in every scene. Small touches like the train smoke drifting past the café, the dozens of railway sound effects. Her skilled direction ensured powerful and yet romantic performances from the couple, backed by a strong cast.

The play includes several Noel Coward songs, but it is not a musical, but rather a drama with songs. This blend of drama and music is the idea of the play’s adaptor, Emma Rice; and although she won an award for the adaptation, I felt it slowed the play down slightly and was even distracting.

Tackling a story that has lasted more than 70 years in the top 200 movies can be risky, as the audience will certainly have their own expectations, but this ambitious, quality and enjoyable production gave a very pleasant evening’s entertainment.

The demand for tickets has been enormous, so get in quickly for the night of your choice.

His writing style is to slowly develop and release the personae of his characters. In the end, the people who originally appeared to be the ‘average man in the street’ are found to be complex with difficult lives.

This two and a quarter hour classic can be seen at the Stirling Theatre, Morris Place, Innaloo, at 8.00 each night until Saturday 25^th April.

Set designer, Jane Sherwood, has completely stripped the stage of proscenium curtains and wings’ flats. This has allowed her create the huge, luxurious guest bedroom of the 28,000 acre Mississippi mansion. The room walls are of fine muslin drapes allowing the audience to see into the passageway behind, and the balcony overlooking the lush garden (backdrop painted by Gabriel Dahmen).

There has been a huge amount of work put into the set by Michael Stronach, Les Farrell, Lisa Matthews, Callum Santiago, Ron Arthurs and Richard Mananga. The well managed props and children courtesy of stage manager, Carla Griffiths.

The lighting and sound designs are by James Wilson, operated by Callum Calder and Ian Wilson. For decades community productions have used the on / off fader for the sound and lighting, no subtlety or ‘50 shades of light’. However, recently, stereo sound effects have become the norm, with birds singing where the garden is, the sound of the telephone ringing from the position of the ‘phone; seems a basic expectation, but for years the sounds even came from a poorly positioned speaker at the side of the auditorium. In this show, a great deal of work has been put into these visual and sound effects, there were even a few quiet and non-intrusive notes, when Big Daddy made a powerful statement.

The costumes were excellent, reflecting the wearer’s character and the era (Bree Vreedenburgh).

         Big Daddy (Ron Arthurs) is shouting for his black manservant, Lacey (Richard Mananga) to hurry with the wine. The guests are gathering for the 65^th birthday of this self-made millionaire.

        The once charming Brick (Michael Dornan) is the favourite son of the family. He is considered by Big Mama (Dimity Wehr), a mother who seems to be permanently in denial of what is happening in her family, and Brick’s nervous wife, Maggie (Amanda Watson), as the perfect man. Brick formerly showed textbook masculinity and as being untouchable, however, severely depressed at the death of his best friend Skipper, Brick hides behind his endless stream of liquor. Could he have had a homosexual attraction for Skipper? A desire that he keeps in abeyance, a topic to avoid discussing with Big Daddy.

       Whilst hurdling at school, Brick broke his ankle, considered by Maggie as the start of his broken life. Over the years, Maggie has become bitter as she desperately wants children, but it is eons since Brick and her made love. Maggie, the play’s the ‘cat’, a semi-hysterical, anxious and dissatisfied woman, because of Brick’s indifference to her womanly demands. Inexplicably bound to her man, Maggie has tried undressing seductively, posing in front of the mirror, but Brick is unmoved.

      When her Brick’s brother, high flying attorney, Gooper (Craig Edwards) and his haughty, malicious wife, ‘the monster of fertility’, Mae (Gael Campbell-Young) take great joy in pointing out that they have a brood of ‘wonderful’ children, and that Maggie is still virginal, the atmosphere is acrid. The young tactless, Reverend Tooker (Damian Forbes) is horrified at the family feuds, but hypocritically ignores them.

        Gooper and Mae’s litter of ‘no-neck’ children are repeatedly forced to perform for Big Daddy, as they try to oust Brick and ingratiate themselves as sole beneficiaries in Big Daddy’s Will. Daddy is no fool, he sees through this, still preferring the younger son – or as Mama says – ‘the only son’, still hoping that Maggie will produce the much wanted grandson.

        When Dr Baugh (Brett Shircore) arrives with the results of Daddy’s latest health check, to save Mama’s feelings, Gooper tells Mama that her Daddy has a spastic colon and not cancer as previously thought.

        Assuming that he is in fine health, good for another twenty years, Daddy takes Brick aside and bullyingly challenges him to face up to life, just as he, Daddy, has had to suffer the miserable bitch that has been his wife for 45 years.

 

        What will happen? Will jealous Gooper or alcoholic Brick win; will sexually frustrated, unloved Maggie or the bitch of the century, Mae triumph? Alternatively, will they all be losers?

 

‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ is one of these plays that looks like a good basic story, and on two the five occasions that I have seen this play, it has been presented as a simple interesting story. It has in fact a great number of hidden meanings, symbolism and subtleties often missed by the directors and cast. The size of the audio console, the double bed, Brick’s crutch etc all have much more meaning than is seen at first. Thirty percent of this play can be enjoyed without knowing the full meaning of Tennessee’s script, but when produced correctly the full 100% power of the story blows you away. This production under the skilful direction of award winning Jane Sherwood was a 100% job.

The children, Buster (James Matthews), Dixie (Lakeesha Motbey), Trixie (Colette Campbell) and Sonny (Charlie Motbey) were wonderful. How often does one see children who are wooden puppets, mouthing a few monotonic words that only a devoted Grandparent would appreciate? Well these kids gave it their all. They sang beautifully and truly acted. Even 6 years old, Charlie had his few seconds of fame.

I have seen Amanda Watson act hilarious comedy, and yet here she heartbreaking plays the wife that has been cast aside. Every muscle in her body and face expressed her feelings. Her accent is perfect for the Deep South. This has to be the performance of the year. Let us hope that the bigger Perth theatre companies ‘discover’ her soon, a fabulous actress.

Michael Dornan, another actor known for his comedy, showed every emotion of the alcoholic struggling to come to terms with the loss of the only person he ever cared for. Michael literally threw himself into the part, crashing to the floor repeatedly. Ron, as Big Daddy, was the first Daddy since Burl Ives to demonstrate the real psychological and physical power over Brick, to be omnipotent in his own home. Dimity was wonderful as the loving mother, who could have quite a sting in the tail when she wanted.

I know I normally praise the programme when there is nothing else to like, but Fran Gordon’s full colour programme has a font easy to read, and good clear photos so essential for knowing which actor is which. Bree Vreedenburgh’s poster was most clever, encompassing the mood and fiery atmosphere of the play.

One of the best versions of this play that I have seen, that is including the professional productions. Outstanding, not a weak link in sight. Plenty of WOW factor.

This latest treat is being produced by ARENAarts – a wonderful team that is interested in giving the underdog (!) a chance – at the Latvian Centre Theatre, 60 Cleaver Terrace in Belmont, where there is plenty of free parking.

Most of this team brought you last year’s hugely successful ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’, the uproarious show that had patrons coming back for a second helping.

These performances start at 8.00 pm, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings until 23^rd August. There are matinees at 2.00 pm on Sunday the 10^th and 17^th. Children often go to the matinee, so perhaps I should warn that there is some slightly crude – but not too offensive – language. In addition, the story is quite sad in places.

The set is a bare stage with a countryside view on the backcloth; the cleverly conceived wire cages are added later. The set was designed by Jane Sherwood and Dan Madgwick; then built by them, assisted by Callum Calder, Johnny Grim, Cally Zanik and Linda Redman.

         There is a high-pitched yapping noise from the back of the theatre. A woman has found a stray canine in the street, so leads the dog (an actor in a pink tutu and fluffy crown), down the theatre aisle to the stage. This little yappy, overactive dog, Molly (Rachael Maher, great performance) has been brought to the pound!

        As Molly mingles with the other dogs, they suddenly find that the pound attendants, supervisor Hillary (Michelle Diston) and schoolgirl volunteer, Leah (Simone Diston) are building cages around them; dividing the sexes and removing their freedom.

       The Dalmatian, Measles (Jacob Duggar) and an older dog, which looks like he is a bikie’s pal, Titan (Graeme Cross) have been in the pound for some time, as has the sad old bitch, Jude (Cally Zanik) sitting quietly at the back of her cage. The two other dogs, a sexy stylish, leggy French poodle, Meg (Amanda Watson) and a bitzer, Peppa (Alison Arrowsmith) seemed to be streetwise.

        The keeper arrives with another male dog, Red (Reece Darch) who thinks he is on holiday, but the wise Socks (Willy Smeets – at his best), has obviously been trained by Michael Jackson, soon educates Red in the ways of the pound. The slightly dim Spock (Brett Shircore) befriends Red.

        When the visitors call, who will be the lucky one to be chosen? What happens to upset the schoolgirl helper?

Although I have suggested breeds, Johnny has left this to the audience’s imagination. He has amazingly created several very different breeds, with rich characters and distinctive dialogues of their own. Finley Award winner Director, Jane Sherwood has a doubly difficult task, directing ‘animals’ with all their irrational mannerisms, and next having them become human, with the everyday problems of life.

The cast had superb knowledge of the dogs they were playing, from simple tasks like lying down to sniffing each other, it was hilarious to watch. With a large cast on stage the whole time, it was essential that the dogs kept moving and showing various canine peculiarities, this the actors did with aplomb.

There was incidental, live mood music, from keyboard player Mel Kay – herself an award-winning actress. She kept the volume to a subtle level and the accompaniment was not intrusive or jarring. Danni Close had a small but effective soundscape.

Bree Vreedenburgh’s costumes were inspired, they had to show the character of the dog instantly, which they did most effectively. Very good indeed.

This was a most enjoyable and clever play. Recommended, but take a packet of tissues.