This delightful, Kalamunda Dramatic Society presentation, just short of two-hours, can be seen at the Kalamunda Amateur Dramatic Society Theatre in Barber Street, Kalamunda nightly at 8.00 pm.

This fabulous show finishes its three-week season on Saturday 3^rd December.

The scene is the present day, in the sitting room of a rundown house in the North of England.

The stage apron and the auditorium aisle became the local club. The artwork was by Olivia Peters.

The set designer (Alastair Woodcock) has stripped the small stage back to the bare brick walls. The furnishings are meagre and tatty. To one side of the stage is a staircase leading to a teenager’s bedroom. The bedroom walls are pink and adorned by the LP covers of singing stars from the 1960s and 70s. The props were few but probably very difficult to source, well-done Linda Murray. The busy stage manager was Karen Woodcock.

The lighting (Stephen Marr) and sound (Julie Hickling) designs were very well thought out. With several special visual effects required from a limited lighting rig, a most impressive result. The efficient technical operators were Alexis Marr, Lesley Broughton and Anita Bound. Greg Rusha engineered the sound.

       After her husband died, Mari (Sandra Sando) feeling abandoned, took to the drink. She is desperate for affection – and a regular sex life. However, life has passed her by, and this tarty woman finds herself throwing herself at any man that shows even the slightest interest. Her immature, 15 year old daughter, Laura ‘Little Voice’, or ‘LV’ as her Dad called her (Madeleine Shaw) was devastated by her loving Dad’s death. With only a mug saying ‘The World’s best Dad’, a photo of him on her bedroom wall, and his LP record collection, LV locks herself away. All day she listens to his discs, hoping to find some ethereal, paternal connection by impersonating the singers.

      Mari’s friend, Sadie (Rose Weighell – enchanting) is short of a few brain cells, but understands the circumstances of her friend and her daughter, and shows LV genuine affection. As Mari and Sadie are having an afternoon nip of Bacardi, the telephone men arrive to install Mari’s lifeline to her clients. Mari moves in on the older technician, Clark (Stephen Marr) whilst the very shy young assistant, Billy (Jack Williams) smiles fondly at introverted, nervous LV.

     No sooner is the ‘phone installed but the village’s ‘impresario’, Ray Say (Keith Scrivens – best I have seen him) arrives to ‘see’ Mari. Her neckline lowers and there is more flesh on show than in a butcher’s window. He hears LV singing in her bedroom and cannot believe the quality. Anticipating being the agent to an international star, Ray calls the local club owner, greasy Mr Boo (Derek Russell).

     Could fame be just around the corner for LV? Will Mari find the man of her dreams?

Director Terry Hackett has once again worked her magic. This is basically an absorbing comedy, but with her clever direction and a magnificent cast – not a weak link anywhere – Terry has brought out the frustrations, deep sadness and pathetic lives of the mother and daughter. There are several poignant scenes where the mother grasps at ‘affection’, and poor LV just feels totally unloved and reclusive.

Narelle Belle mentored Madeleine’s numerous vocal characterisations, and in one scene, Madeleine rattled through several well-known personalities, with a confident, powerful, and beautifully melodic voice with the perfect style of the person she was impersonating. The cameos changed in microseconds, requiring a modification of vocal delivery, accent, and body action. A stunning performance.

Sandra Sando was outstanding as the debauched and pathetic mother, filled with jealousy and frustration. Her rough Edinburgh accent grated, and her whole demeanour was daring and repulsive. Superb.

Every aspect of this show was exceptional.

In 1988-89, the play won Laurence Olivier Awards for Best New Comedy and Best Actress, followed by two Tony Awards, one for Best Performance by a Leading Actress and another for Best Play. It went on to win the Outstanding Broadway Debut award.

This delightful comedy is now being presented by the Kalamunda Dramatic Society Theatre (KADS) at their theatre in the Town Square, Barber Street, Kalamunda.

The curtain goes up at 8.00 pm for 130 minutes of fun and tears each Wednesday, Friday and Saturday until the 30th July.

Jodi Cant’s set is simple but effective. The scene is the kitchen of a working class home in Liverpool during the 1980s. A table and four chairs represent Shirley’s kitchen. The walls are flats painted pale lemon with a few black drapes. The Greek setting is a contoured lounger, with sky blue flats (built by Alistair Woodcock and Karen Woodcock-Hall). Steve Marr and Les Marshall operated Don Allen’s simple but effective lighting.

The simplicity focused the audience’s attention on the script and dazzling acting.

         We join 42-year-old Shirley Bradshaw – nee Valentine (Jenny Howard-McCann) – in her kitchen, peeling potatoes; yet another evening meal for her unappreciative husband. Over the years, Shirley has found that the kitchen wall is a far better friend, and more responsive, than her brain dead, boring husband.

      One day, Shirley’s best friend wins a ticket for two to Greece and suggests that they go to the Greek Isles together. Being a dutiful and conscientious wife, Shirley has grave doubts at first, and then after much discussion with ‘wall’, she realises how her lifestyle has changed with marriage, and so decides to go and rediscover her lost youth and vibrancy.

      How will her friends and family accept this unacceptable behaviour?

 

Amanda Muggleton, who, in true Amanda style, performed almost the whole of the second act completely in the nude, brought this one-woman show to Australia in the 80s. This production is still sexy, but without flesh.

The play takes the form of a 110-minute monologue, a huge task at the best of times. When you add the need for a quality Liverpool accent, the unique Scouse mannerisms and their dry innate sense of humour, the task becomes mammoth. Further, add the ability to engage the audience, as though you are gossiping in private to your best friend, whilst having the comedic ability to delivery hilarious stories that may actually incorporate tragic undertones. These demands on any actor are massive, even for a major award-winning actor like Jenny; but she shone in all departments, with a truly stunning performance. There were numerous belly laughs and a few tears. Jenny’s performance was crammed with energy, and even after a couple of hours, the pace kept bounding along.

Fabulous teamwork from the skilled director and her highly talented performer.

I can imagine a sell-out, so get your tickets quickly.

This two-hour play can be seen at the KADS Theatre in Barber Street, Town Square Centre, Kalamunda each Wednesday, Friday and Saturday until 28^th May.

For any new people in the area and potential audience members, may I suggest that your beautiful posters and first-class website mention which theatre the show is at, and where the theatre is situated?

The scene is the year 2014, in the shabby lounge room of Herringbone Manor in Sussex. Due to encroaching poverty, the buildings have fallen into disrepair, with many of the artworks and treasures having been sold off. The set is the work of Richard Woolman, Bill Weighell, Paul Hodges and the designer Geoff Rumsey. The stage manager is Liam Rogers.

       Act One – The pedantic and painfully overbearing, Lord Alfred Herringbone (Paul Anderson) is reading his ‘Times’ and sipping on a whisky. Meanwhile, his tolerant wife, Lady Penelope (Marsha Holt) tries to ignore Alfred’s demands for perfect syntax. Their aging butler, Wick (Geoff Rumsey) is now a luxury they can barely afford, but as the Wicks family have been attendants and loyal servants to the Herringbones for centuries, they keep him on.

       On returning from holiday, their daughter Caroline (Rachel Vonk) suggests that they contact her friend Alyce (Natasha Smith) who works as a producer’s assistant on a TV show, dedicated to saving old manors. Will she be able to help? What will she unearth?

 

     Act Two – We find ourselves back three centuries at the beginning of the Herringbone dynasty, where the first butler, Wicks (Les Marshall) takes care of handsome, debonair Amberley Herringbone (Paul Reed) who is being chased by a gypsy girl (Natasha Smith). When he rejects her, she puts a terrible curse on the House of Herringbone for generations to come. Perhaps antiques expert, Justine truelove (Charlotte Weber) may hold the answer to the misfortune.

 

The two stories are both very funny, the first Act was slick and worked well, however, the second Act suffered from the ‘Curse of the Herringbones’. With only days to go, two actors had to withdraw due to severe illness; unfortunately, this left the second story under rehearsed. A little bit of script editing would also help, but it was a good storyline and well thought out.

Paul Anderson gave a hilarious, supercilious performance, with Martha Holt brilliant as the frustrated, long suffering wife – great chemistry between the pair. Geoff Rumsey was perfect as the present day, gracious Wicks with all his subtle quirks.

Quite a complex lighting schedule designed by Don Allen and operated smoothly by Tiernan Stevens. Julie Hickling’s soundscape was operated by Jason Millman.

Having the author direct his own play can be a risk, but Bob Charteris has had plenty of experience both on and off the stage, and with this very good cast he did extremely well.