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.

‘Part One’ of the play caused ructions and the ire of morality groups when it was released, yet it went on to win every major award, including a Pulitzer Prize and two Tony Awards for Best Play.

This wonderful mammoth, 3-hour drama can be seen at the Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre, Northbridge nightly at 7.30 until Sunday 19^th June.

The stage is devoid of the normal flats and scenery, instead the sides of the stage have walls of lamp rigs – spots, floods, the full range; there are about 70 lamps on each side of the stage arranged at a dozen different levels.

The whole ‘ceiling’ of the stage comprised dozens of opaque Perspex panels, lit from above. The set and costume designer, Christina Smith, has selected numerous superb props, which completely satisfy the audience, giving a full mental picture of the venue, wealth etc.

The back wall consisted of black drapes that blended into infinity. They subtly opened and closed, allowing props and cast to enter. The numerous props / furniture entered silently and smoothly on travelling floor belts. Stage manager Peter Sutherland and his assistant, Claudia Blagaich certainly had to work for their crust in this show.

The work of the company’s mechanist, Nathan Fry, is often taken for granted, but here the directors and designer have created moving furniture, fly wire harness, the incredible wrath of God, inclement weather, a descending coffin and a spectacular final scene that left the audience speechless. Superb work.

On this occasion, it was good to see the major stage teamsters being invited to join the actors for the curtain call.

This synopsis of the story is more informative than usual, and for some, may contain too many spoilers; however, for others it may help them follow the unusual storyline.

      It is 1985 in New York City, and we are at the funeral of Louis’s grandmother, with the aged Rabbi Chemelwitz (Toni Scanlan) blundering his way through a vale. After the service, ‘word processor’ Louis Ironson (Will O’Mahony), a neurotic lover, meets Prior Walter (Adam Booth) his partner of four years. Prior tells Louis that he has contracted AIDS. After months of caring for Prior, unable to cope, Louis deserts his friend in his final hours of need.

     Louis then embarks upon a relationship with the apparently ‘straight’ Mormon lawyer, Joe Pitt (Stuart Halusz) who, due to his latent homosexuality, has been having difficulty living with his wife, Harper. Agoraphobic ‘Buddy’ Harper (Jo Morris) is a Valium-addict, who fanaticises her way out of her misery, by planning holidays with imaginary travel agent, Mr. Lies (Kenneth Ransom).  

     True-life, brutal, right-wing solicitor, Roy Cohn (John Stanton) – who is gay, but despises other gays – offers Joe a senior post in the Washington Justice Department.

      We next see Prior desperately sick in bed. In a dream the daunting Angel of America (Felicity McKay) with a divine presence, has descended from Heaven and nominates Prior to become a prophet and spread the message. He declines the offer, but poor Prior could not start to contemplate the suffering in store for him. Prior turns to his best friend, dependable, ex-drag queen, Belize (Kenneth Ransom) for support. Prior tells Belize how he hears an Angel’s voice saying that she is coming for him – the angel’s help turns out to be an AIDS cure, and Prior goes to a hospice under the care of compassionate nurse Emily (Felicity McKay).

In one fantasy episode, Harriet is informed by Prior that Joe is a closeted homosexual and, in a touching performance, she challenges her husband on the topic. Now exposed, Joe and Louis become closer, and one night whilst drunk, Joe phones his mother, Hannah Pitt (Toni Scanlan) to inform her he is Gay. His mother panics, and wants to move to New York to help guide Joe back onto the straight and narrow. She puts her house up for sale with real estate agent, Ella Chapter (Felicity McKay).

     On visiting his GP, Dr Henry (Toni Scanlan), Roy finds he too has AIDS – but in denial calls it ‘liver cancer’. After high pressure from Cohn and his pathetic senior assistant, Martin Heller (Jo Morris), Joe decides to turn down Cohn’s job offer. Furious, Cohn calls Joe a wimp and goes on to say how he achieved his exalted position, even boasting how he executed Ethel Rosenberg (Toni Scanlan) for Treason as part of by McCarthy regime.

     As he becomes stronger, Prior’s ancestors from 17 generations earlier, appear at his bedside. They are a medieval farmer (Stuart Halusz) and a refined, seventeenth-century Londoner (John Stanton), both of whom died of the plague. They are enlisted to prepare for the advent of the ‘Angel of America’.

Directed by two award winners, Kate Cherry and her assistant Joe Lui, this complex story required all of their skills to stop the tale from becoming bogged down, and to ensure it retained the audience’s attention throughout; this duo were magnificent.

The movement director, Lisa Scott Murphy, ensured that the numerous entrances and exits flowed perfectly. Dialect coach, Luzita Fereday thankfully had the cast all speaking with the same understated New York accent.

The storyline has aged a little, but the depth of emotion demanded and the exemplary delivery by this top notch, highly experienced troupe guaranteed a freshness. The cast had the challenging task of involving the audience in their tension, fear and stress for three hours, but by giving each actor a number of characters to play, including women playing males, it kept their performances alive. The script has several very funny sections that again lifted the show from the grim topic, retained the pace and allowed light relief.

Often in Gay plays, the cast feel obliged to caricature the characters, thankfully this cast were subtle, and even the overtly gay Belize had just the correct amount of limp wrist.

Assistant director Joe Lui, renowned for his chromatic use, has worked well with lighting designer Matt Scott to produce a remarkable visual experience from the vast lighting rigs.

Sound designer and composer, Ash Gibson Greig, was at his very best; with a backing ranging from subtle creepy, dirge-like strings to a bouncy Beatles’ tune. There were several unusual sound effects required, and these too were inspirational and dramatic.

The show had a couple of scenes that were daring even by today’s standard, but when the play was first staged, the audience’s reaction was one of horror and repulsion.

This thought-provoking show was not demoralising, but worked at every level of performance, direction and teching. A memorable, remarkable production that makes one hope ‘Part Two’ will be staged in the near future.

Amazingly, the 1992 film despite having an all-star cast with actors like Al Pacino (nominated for an Oscar), Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris and Alan Arkin, did not break financially even. The script contains references to Polaks, Chinks and the ‘Patel’ family’s way of doing business; whilst filming the producers were forced to remove the derogatory comments about the Indian family.

This enthralling, 95-minute (no interval) production can be seen nightly at 7.30 in the Heath Ledger Theatre, within the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, on the corner of William and Roe Streets, Perth. The season runs until Sunday the 14^th June.

The play opens in an L-shaped Chinese restaurant, with the clients seated in individual, tabled booths. The walls are trellised wood panels, the seating rich scarlet leather. This most authentic effect is topped with the ever-present, lucky waving cat.

The real estate sales office was remarkably spacious, with all of the fixtures of a well-established company. Richard Roberts and his associate, Patrick Howe, designed the stunning sets and costumes – from the slick salesmen’s suits to the cheap baggy trousers of Mr Lingk. Stage Manager Georgia Landre-Ord, assisted by Claudia Blagaich ensured the smooth running of the props and stage rotation.

Jon Buswell’s lighting design was cleverly contrasted; from the warm welcoming atmosphere of the restaurant to the stark, brightly lit office. The mood was perfectly enhanced by Ben Collins’ sound design and soft musical compositions.

        Mitch and Murray is a large group of Chicago real estate agents. The owner, much to the chagrin of the employees, sends his arrogant, cold and calculating nephew, John Williamson (Will O’Mahony) to run a branch office, Premier Properties.

        Shelley ‘The Machine’ Levene (Peter Rowsthorn) was, until recently, the most successful salesman of the decade; but Williamson has his favourite salesmen in the office, and so gives them the only ‘good leads’, i.e. those properties most likely to achieve the best prices.

         The play opens in the local Chinese Restaurant where middle-aged Shelley – who hasn’t made a sale for ages – is grovelling to Williamson for a decent couple of leads, such as the Glengarry Estate, instead of the unsaleable, rundown rubbish that has been sitting idle on the books for months.

        Around the corner of the restaurant, in another booth, are two more employees that are disgruntled. Ruthless, loudmouthed Dave Moss (Kenneth Ransom) has had a bright idea, and is trying to get on board, the depressed, nervous George Aaronow (Luke Hewitt). He wants George to break into their own branch office and steal all the details of the prime properties, in order to sell them to Jerry Graff, their local rival. Aaronow is horrified, but somewhat interested.

        In another corner, top salesman Ricky Roma (Damian Walshe-Howling) who has few morals, is smooth talking a timid, elderly man, Mr Lingk (Steve Turner) into buying a property and is about to go in for the kill.

        Next day the police are called into the real estate office and Detective Baylen (Ben Mortley) gets to work interrogating, determined to solve a crime that has taken place overnight.

The play has a slow start, taking a few minutes until you know where the men work and what their ‘good lead’ is. Voice and dialect coach, Luzita Fereday, has taught the cast a soft, unobtrusive, Chicago accent and thankfully all of the players have the same drawl.

I have seen this play three times in the past, and come away totally unmoved, thinking ‘what a lot of words about nothing’, consequently I was quite reluctant to see this play again. Luckily I did go, as under the guiding hand of director Kate Cherry the whole meaning, depth of the rich dialogue, the tension and hateful competition suddenly came to life. This is one of these magnificent plays that either works brilliantly or dies miserably – with nothing in the middle. It takes a special team of fine actors to bring such a play to life, and here we have the cream. As a fly on the wall, you learn of the tensions, dirty tricks and heartbreaks of working in the real estate business.

Every actor has captured their richly written characters superbly; however, a special mention must be made of Peter Rowsthorn, who performs a whole spectrum of emotions, an outstanding and moving dramatic performance from one of the country’s funniest comedians.

There is frequent coarse language, and 90 minutes of solid, unrelenting bitterness with no light relief; however, you are left a little drained, but certainly not depressed.

It is rarely that you leave a theatre so overwhelmed by the standard of acting you have just seen. Black Swan at its very best.

When her 44 year-old father died in a car crash, Moira was only 4 years old. Her Mum was left to bring up three young children by herself. After studying English and Drama at London University, Moira went on to train as an actor at the Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Despite being nominated in 2003 for an Olivier ‘Best New Comedy’ Award, ‘Dinner’ was extensively rewritten at the end of the opening run. With a score of plays to her credit, often written between auditions, Buffini’s works tend to have a dark, satirical theme, and this is no exception.

This wonderfully moreish, WA Premiere is being presented by the Black Swan State Theatre Company, and can be seen at the Heath Ledger Theatre, within the State Theatre of Western Australia, 146 William Street, Northbridge. The 105-minute performances commence each evening at 7.30, with the season running until Sunday 29^th March.

The set is in a country home on the outskirts of London, the scene is a massive, sumptuous conservatory with 4 metre high, glass panels on three walls. A beautiful bronze and gold candelabrum hangs in the centre of the room, above a Perspex and glass dining table, with six clear acrylic chairs around it. The table is immaculately set for a banquet.

The set and lighting designer, Trent Suidgeest, has used a similar set to that of His Majesty’s ‘Equus’ – the multiple windows allow us to see the inclement weather outside, and to remind us that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. The stylish props are by India Metha.

        The curtain rises to show a beautiful woman in a scarlet dress kissing a waiter.

       Thrilled that his new, Nietzsche style, psychology self-help book, ‘Beyond Belief’, is a best seller, smug Lars Janssen (Steve Turner) is about to celebrate. His finicky, acid-tongued, bitch of a wife, Paige (Tasma Walton) has decided to host a glitzy dinner party in his honour.

Paige is resolute to have everything flawless. Digging into history, she carefully creates a strange and nauseating menu. A ‘bad taste’ dinner in every sense. She even hires a waiter (Kenneth Ransom) just for the event, however, when she pays his service fee of 25,000 pounds in cash, we are left wondering why.

       Why does she want to demean her husband and affront their guests?

       To help the evening flow smoothly with her weird collection of narcissistic, killjoy guests, Paige has a list of interesting topics to discuss over dinner. The guests include a Freudian artist, Wynne (Alison van Reeken), a feminist who should carry a health warning, ‘may be nutty’. Then there is the chauvinistic, divorced microbiologist, Hal (Greg McNeill) accompanied by his ‘new babe’, outspoken journalist, Sian (Rebecca Davis).

       As the acerbic and venomous hostess’s memorable celebration gets underway, East Ender (Voice coach Luzita Feraday) Mike (Stuart Halusz), a hoody-wearing driver has crashed in the fog, and arrived requiring help.

Another exquisite musical score, mainly cellos and bass adagio, from sound designer and composer, Ash Gibson Greig helps set the threatening atmosphere.

India Metha created most of the costumes, but Michelle Tindale designed Sian’s dress. It is a full length, backless black silk dress, with a subtle light grey print at thigh level. Alvin Fernandez and Ae’lkemi have designed a stunning scarlet number for Paige; the dress is mainly of scarlet lace with matching embroidered and feather trimmings. Sheree Dornan was the designer of Wynne’s knee length dress of olive and brown crushed velvet, with a simple faux pearl pattern on the hem.

The central dining table rotated very slowly, allowing us to see the diners from different perspectives (Stage Manager Peter Sutherland). One course of the meal had most effective animation that made the audience squirm.

Director, Kate Cherry, adeptly starts the evening with friendly, soft-spoken banter at a laidback pace. Subtly, this wonderful cast crept the volume and aggravation slowly up until the unexpected final climax. Tasma Walton has been given a huge challenge with her part and has blossomed – what a bitch! The other insincere characters start off ‘all smiles’ but got positively nasty as the meal progressed. Kenneth Ransom was a man of few words, but his elegance and demeanour spoke volumes. Halusz as the jack-the-lad was the breath of fresh air in this dark – yet hilarious – tale. Davis played a deep thinking journalist, and we never really got to know what was going on in her head. Then there is poor dippy Wynne, who is shocked at the swearing and most of life’s encounters.

The actors, many of them Equity Award winners, had numerous characteristics each to conquer, and this they did with finesse.

Forget fast food with old friends, this is a dish to savour alone, but what would The West Australian’s Rob Broadfield score the meal? A play that livens your taste buds, but could it have a bitter after taste? Make a meal of it, have an excitingly different night out.

His best known film script adaptations were probably ‘The Odd Couple’ and ‘Sweet Charity’; Simon who has been compared to Molière, and George Bernard Shaw, has received more combined Oscar and Tony nominations than any other writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his drama, ‘Lost in Yonkers’. Almost all of his 30 plays are based in New York.

When ‘Laughter’ was launched in 1993, it ran for 320 performances, before moving to London where it ran for 5 months. It is said that Neil and his brother Danny developed their scriptwriting on the eleventh and the twelfth floors of the NBC-TV building; these numbers added together made the fictitious 23^rd floor.

The original script was updated and then re-launched in 2011, and here it is now presented by WA’s own Black Swan State Theatre Company, at the Heath Ledger Theatre within the State Theatre Centre of WA, 182 William Street, Northbridge.

In this semi-autobiographical script, Neil Simon has changed the names of his colleagues, but I have included their suspected names along with the name of the actor. Woody Allan was part of their team, but is not in the play.

The two-and-a-half hour performances at 7.30 each night until Saturday 20^th September. There are matinees available too.

It is 1953, and on the 23^rd floor of the Rockefeller Plaza, where we find the slightly tatty, Art Deco office of several comedy scriptwriters. The office has a very high ceiling, with large windows looking across New York’s vista. There is a conference table, settee and a refreshments table. There is a surprise, impressive addition made to the set that will have you asking ‘What happened there?’ Set designer, Lauren Ross is to be congratulated on this breath-taking set and the wonderful costumes. As always, Trent Suidgeest’s lighting was inspired, with all aspects achieved.

     A nervous young lad has arrived to join one of the most prestigious TV show, writing teams in New York. He is Lucas (James Sweeny, character inspired by Neil Simon). He is greeted by a flash, beret wearing, Milt Fields (Humphrey Bower as Sheldon Keller) who advises him to be first to the bagel dish. Milt explains that they all write for the central star of the show, Max Prince (Peter Rowsthorn as Sid Caesar) whose behaviour and memory is a little unpredictable due to the number of pills that he takes. The secretary, Helen (Lara Schwerdt) brings in the coffee jug and some notes, and Lucas settles down to meet the others.

       The studious looking Kenny Franks (Stuart Halusz – did not recognise him at first – as Larry Gelbart) is next to the coffee. As the fast fire, one-liners fly around the room, Kenny comes out with the odd gem. Next, to arrive is the dejected Russian immigrant, Val Skolsky (Igor Sas as Mel Tolkin) who is desperate to blend into American society, but is having trouble swearing convincingly. The door opens and the heavy smoking Irishman, Brian Doyle (Ben Mortley as Tony Webster) coughs his way in, accompanied by the petite and smart Carol Wyman (Jo Morris as Lucille Kallen) a most unlikely writer, but who can come up with lines as good as the men.

      Much later, a distraught man in a camel hair coat staggers in, he is Ira Stone (Damon Lockwood as Mel Brooks) a hypochondriacal man that has a different major ailment every day. With most of the morning frittered away the team starts work.

       In the middle of the night, spaced out, Max Prince calls a couple of the writers to inform them that NBC is likely to axe their show; what do they suggest that he can do to save their programme?

Even in this rip roaring comedy, Simon’s trademark of compassion and moral behaviour shine through. The comedy is richly written, packed with one-liners, in the style of Groucho Marx, for almost every minute of the whole 150 minutes. The play was written decades ago, but the jokes are as fresh as ever. A little corny at times, but the delivery of every word was splendid.

Although I suspect much of the comic routine and delivery may have been created by the experienced comedians, it was up to director Kate Cherry to keep the play flowing in an orderly manner.

Simon always builds into his scripts, human failings and eccentricities and these came across amongst the madcap humour, often delivered by the stressed or sad characters. The cast were quite a cross section, with a mix of professional comedians such as Peter Rowsthorn and Damon Lockwood, with the more serious actors like Humphrey Bower and Igor Sas proving their adaptability and versatility. The rapport was outstanding, with many places throughout the play when spontaneous, enthusiastic applause gave credit to the performers. The timing, body language and expressions were exceptional, the pleasure for the audience and I am sure the cast, was heart-warming.

It is a long time since I have seen so much well delivered humour in a play, and I know several patrons who have already seen this play more than once. A special theatre experience.

This 2-hour play is showing at the Heath Ledger Theatre, in the State Theatre Centre of WA, Northbridge each evening at 7.30 until 31^st August. There are some matinees.

It is a visually beautiful set. The setting is about 1900 in Russia, on a country estate. A rustic stage, complete with muslin curtains, has been erected on the shore of the lake. The wings have flats of painted, stretched muslin with the background lake scene continued onto them. Set design and immaculately tailored costumes (dressmaker, Jennifer Edwards) are by Fiona Bruce. Combined with the warm glow of the oil lamp toned lighting and the very clever, and fully convincing, moon rising over the lake complete with reflections on the water (Jon Buswell), the scene was stunning.

       For his annual holiday, Konstantin (Luke McMahon) is staying at the family’s country estate with his talented actress, mother, Arkadina (Greta Scacchi). In an attempt to follow the family into the theatre, Konstantin has written a play, a very strange and boring play. To impress his relations, he decides to have a neighbour’s daughter, Nina (Leila George) perform it on the rustic stage near the lake. The play is so bad that even his mother tells him it is awful, his only supporter being the local GP, Dr Dorn (Andrew McFarlane).

       An elderly relative, Sorin (Michael Loney) is brought along for a holiday. He hates it, ‘not nearly as exciting as the city’. Every year the estate manager, Shamrayev (Greg McNeill) and his wife, Polina (Sarah McNeill) have had to put up with a great deal of extra work, and so Shamrayev makes yet another unsuccessful annual stance for more money, or he will walk out. Shamrayev and Polina have daughter, a pessimistic and miserable wench, Masha (Rebecca Davis); but despite this apparent lack of happiness or affection, the local schoolteacher, Medvedenko (Adam Booth) craves for her.

      When a celebrated writer, Trigorin (Ben Mortley) arrives at the estate, he and Nina spend happy hours chatting, as a result, her love for Konstantin wanes – especially after his weird gift of a dead seagull.

      Will the many tortuous love affairs become resolved?

Expecting the heavy, richly written style of the Russian classic texts, I was surprised at Hilary Bell’s adaptation with much lighter contemporary dialogue. The play starts in a very light vein, this gave a warm glow to the opening Act, however after the interval, the genre seemed to swing back to the original, traditional style. Many of the audience really enjoyed this mixed combination; however, some of the purists were a little saddened by the overall result.

The acting was wonderful, with WA’s Greta Scacchi showing why she has been so admired over the years. Her real-life daughter, Leila George, effervesced with feeling, and I can see her following Greta to fame.

Director Kate Cherry and her talented assistant, Jeffrey Jay Fowler, have selected an excellent well-proven cast, who gave a great deal of depth their characters. In addition to the leads, Davis was hilarious as the temperamental maid and Loney delightful as the senile, hypochondriacal relative.

Ash Gibson Greig can always be relied upon to give a quality musical backing and soundscape (impressive storm scene).

Young teenagers and the old can appreciate this easy-going play equally.

A very good, light-hearted night at the theatre. Chekhov would have been proud.