The play premiered at the Versailles Palace fête, but because of the Tartuffe’s attitude to religion, the archbishop of Paris, Hardouin, threatened excommunication for anyone who watched, performed in or even read the play. Molière therefore asked his friend King Louis XIV for support. The play was rewritten and called ‘Panulphe’ – a Sudanese word – but it was again banned, however the King allowed private performances for the French aristocracy.

This delightful, bawdy and uproarious adaptation of the original satire is by Australian librettist and playwright, Justin Fleming. Justin, who has been vice-president of the Australian Writers’ Guild and a board member of the Australian National Playwrights’ Centre, has produced a magnificently crafted script; still in the original couplet style, the completely new dialogue is contemporary, and with many fun up-to-the-minute references.

Before the play, I met several Fleming fans, who had been especially drawn to this production because of his immense sense of humour and writing skills. Justin was also present at the opening night performance.

This play was Kate Cherry’s Perth swansong. In the past 7 years with Black Swan, she has directed or co-directed, more than two dozen memorable productions, but this had to be the ultimate. When a play has the whole house standing in admiration and ovation of a play, then this shows that every aspect has succeeded. We wish Kate well for the future.

This show is a joint production between two old friends, the Black Swan State Theatre Company and the Queensland Theatre Company. The fast moving, enthralling, two and a half hour performances start at 7.30 each evening in the Heath Ledger Theatre, within the State Theatre Centre, 174 William Street in Northbridge. The season runs until Sunday 6^th November.

The scene is Orgon’s chic house in present day Australia – 400 years after the Paris home in Molière’s book. Richard Roberts’ sumptuous sets and haute couture costume design (costumière, Jenny Edwards) has retained the air of Parisian affluence. The clever hair and makeup consultant is Raquel Alessi, who has added a little humour to her skills.

The design has two sets built onto the largest revolve that one could envisage. It is actually wider than the stage, overlapping into the wings! The opening scene is the exterior of a modern, white concrete building with a sandstone block, character wall and aluminium framed windows. There is an exterior, upstairs balcony and a suntrap patio.

When the stage rotates, it reveals an amazing interior, reminiscent of Rose’s old Peppermint Grove palace! A curved staircase led down from the long internal balcony, to the white marble floor below. A white grand piano stood in the corner, a raised dining area was overlooked by a huge, upbeat, orange oil painting (Marek Szyler). Centre stage were two armchairs and a bright orange, studded settee.

Lighting designer, David Murray employed a line of footlights to cast a nocturnal glow to the house exterior. Inside he used domestic downlights, enhanced with LEDs. The later gave subtle colour changes according to the mood of the play; clever designing.

The stage management was smoothly carried out by Peter Sutherland and his assistant, Georgia Landré-Ord.

       We enter the house to find wild revelries taking place. The adamant head of the household, the extremely wealthy Orgon (Steve Turner) is out seeing a friend, and so his family are making the most of his absence. His whimsical, attractive daughter, Mariane (Tessa Lind) and her handsome fiancé, Valère (James Sweeny) are kissing on the couch. Mariane’s uncontrollable stepbrother, Damis (Alex Williams) is, as usual, living life to excess as he empties a champagne bottle.

   The interfering, streetwise maid, Dorine (Emily Weir) with her multipurpose, fluffy dusting wand, pretends to clean, whilst listening intently to all of the household gossip. Suddenly, she spots the smartly dressed, austere yet gullible grandmother, Madame Pernelle (Jenny Davis), returning home, closely followed by Orgon. Panic ensues.

     Orgon announces that his new spiritual leader is an aging, devout minister, Tartuffe (Darren Gilshenan). Like most Maharishi, he is celibate – unless God provides this unprincipled and duplicitous man with beautiful women.

     Orgon’s loving wife, Elmire (Alison Van Reeken) warns her mother-in-law, Madame Pernelle of the dangers of her husband’s new friend Tartuffe. Even when Tartuffe cons Orgon into making generous donations to his ‘cause’, Orgon still decides that his daughter would be better off with Tartuffe as a husband, so postpones Mariane’s wedding; Mariane has several novel ways of dealing with the stress of the situation.

     When Orgon gets a little too generous, a cunning plan is called for by the family.

   Why does the ABC reporter (Hugh Parker) call at the house?

The play was racy, ranging from the girlish, crush-like love of Mariane, to the normally demur Elmire who turns on all her sex glands in an attempt to seduce Tartuffe into her trap. Tartuffe himself was perfectly depicted as an unctuous letch, with every subtle, facial expression displaying his true inner thoughts.

Every actor had a rich, well-observed character that they depicted with aplomb. The chemistry and inter-connection of all of the actors, many of whom are major award winners, was amazing. Without meaning to be cruel, Jenny Davis has been around for decades, being probably one of WA’s most admired actors, and in this play she proves that not only has she still ‘got it’, but she is still improving; great to see you Jenny.

Emily Weir as the maid played the part with every cell of her body, uproarious performance. Alison van Reeken as the demure wife, gave a brave and side splitting piece of acting as she was mercilessly hunted, whilst her husband, Steve Turner – always great value – retained his cool obstinacy.

Director Kate Cherry handled the delivery of the tricky couplets perfectly; they could easily have become dry in style and slowed the pace. Instead the show rocked from beginning to end.

Sound Designer/Composer, Tony Brumpton, hit the mark perfectly by giving just the right amount of subtle background melody.

The crafting of this play was exemplary, from script through the technical production to the hilarious performances. One of the funniest bawdy plays ever.

As a musical celebration and tribute to 100 years of King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women, fondly known as ‘King Eddy’s’, and their work assisting mothers and babies; Agelink Theatre and the King Edward Memorial Hospital Centenary Committee have joined forces to bring us memorable events from over the years.

Vocal Ensemble ‘Voiceworks’, the 15 strong, Subiaco Community Choir, under the direction of Maggie Wilde West and Joshua Webb, add to the memories, by reviving charming songs from the 1950s and 60s. The keyboard accompaniment was by Gavin Nicklette. The technical direction was by Aaron Stirk, and the production managed by Bernie Davis.

On Saturday 6th August, for one day only, there are two 90-minute performances; the first at 2.00 pm, and the second at 7.30 pm in the main auditorium of the Subiaco Theatre, Subiaco Arts Centre, 180 Hamersley Road, Subiaco.

The choir are seated at the side of the stage. In the centre of the stage is podium with a matron’s tall desk and chair.

       For the first 80 years of giving birth in Western Australia, parturition took place at home, a dangerous process. A few charitable clinics appeared, but these could be expensive and prohibitive to the general public.

 

      The play begins with a stirring meeting in 1909, led by Dame Edith Cowan (Sarah McNeill). A decision is taken to sell bricks at a shilling each, for the new hospital. Soon, enough money was raised to buy and convert a deserted, rundown school for orphans.

      Initially, twenty beds were created under the supervision of Matron Agnes Walsh (Polly Low) and the dedicated Irish ward Sister, Mary Carson (Alinta Carroll). With Dr Clements (Benj D’Addario) working tirelessly for the cause, the hospital expands. As a cute 6-year-old patient, Saskia (Saskia Haluszkiewicz) recalls, it took her lifetime to reach 100 deliveries in half a year.

       A young newspaper reporter (David Ratcliffe) is dispatched to write an article on the miraculous new gift to the women of Perth, King Eddy’s. He catches the eye of a trainee nurse (Cassidy Dunn), but marriage could mean the end of her career.

       With World War 1 under way, the newspaper boy (Oliver Haluszkiewicz) is kept busy informing Perth of the European tragedies, and local losses.

       We are shown how the hospital blossoms with the hard work of the dedicated team, and how today, 60,000 babies can call King Eddy’s their first home.

Directed with love and passion by Jenny Davis and her assistant director Laurie McAinsh, this play brought tears, along with outbursts of chattering in the audience as various surgeons’ names were mentioned and warmly recognised. With the talented cast giving numerous cameos of radio reports, visits from the toffee-nosed aristocracy, and a mother with countless children, the tales were poignant and delivered with plenty of belly laughs – no pun intended.

The musical interludes with songs of the time, gave us an uplift after the depressing description of the conditions of the building and the lack of facilities. Even 50 years ago, when many of the audience would have been alive, the pregnant mothers suffered at the hands of the male chauvinists on various committees.

A fascinating, fast moving piece that is relevant everywhere; it could easily be modified and produced almost anywhere in the world. An important part of our history.

Another triumphant play from Jenny. Her celebratory Centenary Book is also available.

Jenny’s plays are filled with emotion and rich, well-researched memories. I saw this play on Remembrance Day, 96 years after the end of World War 1. Combined with the ever so moving ceremonies in Albany last week, this is a play, which is still extremely relevant today. It is also important to teenagers, who should be fully aware of the happenings in the time of their grandparents.

Presented by Perth Theatre Trust and Agelink Theatre Inc. this most poignant love story is playing at The Studio Theatre, Subiaco Arts Centre in Hamersley Road, Subiaco. The remaining show dates for this two-hour ten minute production are Thursday at 2.00 pm, Friday at 7.30 pm and Saturday 15^th November at both 2.00 pm and 7.30 pm.

This season could be a sell-out, so booking is advised.

On arrival, you navigate past the stack of protective sandbags, before being handed a ration book (programme) and a poppy by the army corporal at the door.

 The set is fairly basic, with a couple of tea crates on one side of the stage that acts as Cis’ home or service headquarters. On the other side is a table and chair, Barbara’s bedroom study area.

A large screen at the back of the stage shows dozens of delightful photos of the actual couple, their friends and Liverpool during the blitz; brought vividly to life with some clever sound and lighting effects (Aaron Stirk).

       In her late teens, Barbara (Siobhan Dow-Hall) is a ‘nut-brown maiden’ living with her strict mother, Mrs Rigby (Alinta Carroll) in an upper-class suburb of Liverpool. The loves of her life are Rufus, her Scots terrier and Sabu (named after the cinema’s elephant boy) her cat. One day a twenty-two year old trainee airman from Marseilles, Francis – ‘Cis’ (Mark Desebrock) sails into the Liverpool docks. He has arrived in England to be trained as a fighter pilot.

       Cis is boarded out at the Rigby’s home, and is immediately attracted to the innocent and shy student, calling her Barbiche (French for goatee beard). After a few weeks, he is sent to Lossiemouth in the north east of Scotland, experiencing the freezing cold weather for the first time in his life.

       The affectionate billets-doux soon arrive at Barbara’s street (the ‘rhuBarb’?) – Similar puns come thick and fast from this young man (an ‘omelette’?) in the letters that are to follow. Then, one day Barbiche is told that he is about to leave on a bombing sortie to Essen.

In this day and age, very few teenagers will have ever handwritten even a simple letter on paper. A modern love letter now being an SMS, consisting of a smiley face with a kiss. It was so refreshing to hear the beautiful structure of these letters, and the amazing emotion that used to be created with the correct use of words. This couple were filled with innocent, sex-free love – true ‘agape’. Real-life Barbara is so lucky to have these letters to treasure; now Facebook is so fleeting and the youngsters of today will have nothing to look back on in their old age.

The melodious, crystal-voiced Alinta Carroll sang the wartime songs from France, Scotland England and Germany beautifully, all with the appropriate accents. Accordionist, Nikki D’Agostino, who accompanied her, is a WAAPA trained musician recently returned from the wars herself – with an ankle broken in Italy. Dressed in black, Nikki had a black beret with French plumes adorning it. The costumes were top notch, Cis’ uniform was that of genuine French airmen, and then of course, there were the stockings with the seams up the back.

Alinta played several cameos, and some hilarious caricatures. The main actors were Mark Desebrock, who despite an immaculate, faultless French accent is an Englishman. Equity Award winner, Siobhan Dow-Hall portrayed Barbara magnificently; she captured the couple’s nervous, first meeting and then subtly carried the love affair development through. The tender chemistry between the couple was outstanding, and when the time came for Cis to part, director Jenny slipped in her version of the famous scene from ‘A Brief Encounter’ – a truly romantic touch – and a caring hush fell across the audience.

Director Jenny Davis has done a breath-taking job of the adaptation and direction, with the music, photos and remarkable acting, the audience were transported to an era of austerity, and of people who genuinely cared about each other’s wellbeing.

Take the tissues along – for laughs as well as tears – and see this very special and touching love story.