It is 1982 in the London apartment of Max and Charlotte. The set is well constructed and perfectly furnished. As the play progresses, two major scenery flats forming the rear wall swing back to allow the scene to be converted to another venue and other era. This was quite an undertaking for the substantial stage crew, but the stage management (Bronwyn Hammond – assisted by Neale Paterson) had the moves very well planned, and the designer really did ‘change’ the location.

        The curtains open to show Max (Neil Cartmell) anxiously awaiting the return of his actress wife, Charlotte (Maree Grayden) from an overseas business trip. When she does arrive home, an argument ensues. When the next scene opens, Charlotte is now married to a scriptwriter, Henry (originally played by Ewan McGregor, but he couldn’t come, so they got Peter Clark), and as they are preparing the evening meal, the doorbell rings and in walks Max with his ‘new’ actress wife, Annie (Bethwyn Legg). It becomes obvious that Max and Charlotte in the first scene were actually an invention of the playwright, Henry; with the characters actually based on Henry and Charlotte’s friends.

       Charlotte complains that the women in Henry’s scripts are written as bimbos, in order for Henry to express his misogynistic feelings through his affable character ‘Max’. However, it is probably the fact that Charlotte sees Henry’s cast member, Annie, as the person she used to be.

        Henry starts writing scripts for television, and in one ghost written episode, Annie announces to Henry that she is visiting Brodie (Alex Ripper), a rebel in her play; but could this actually be an invitation for some hanky panky? On the train north, Annie regularly meets Billy (Patrick Barton), another actor half her age – a further opportunity for Henry to use his imagination and writing skills.

       Henry is happy creating these immoral characters, but the lifestyle of his real-life, young daughter Debbie (Melissa Kiiveri) and her attitude to monogamy is a major worry to him. Soon Henry is ‘living out’ his creations, just as Stoppard did in his life, with his alimony and affairs.

This is a very tricky play to direct, as the actors glide seamlessly between fantasy and reality, however, with an experienced director like Barry Park it works well, clearly showing the fun and sense of abandonment equally well. Stoppard’s plays are often absurdist, but this story is filled with the lives of real people that we will all know in the theatre, their honesty, dedication and loyalty.

The lighting (Fiona Reid) and sound effects (Guido Nigro) were both well-conceived, and smoothly operated. Jennifer Prosser’s costumes were as always well designed and gave an instant recognition of the actor’s personality.

If ever an accent is called for, but an actor cannot manage it comfortably, and after some intonation training it is still no better, then it is wise to look at the actor’s part and decide if the brogue is really necessary. If not, then drop the twang altogether. A poor accent can at the least be most distracting, and at worst spoil a faultless play. Sadly, one accent was possibly the worst I have heard in some time; please, just play it straight. This is no reflection upon the actual acting, which like all of the others in this experienced cast, was well above average.

This is very well directed and produced play. It is a tricky play that only a talented cast – like this – could achieve; any less gifted and the whole play would have fallen over in an incomprehensible heap.

Once again, another full house, for a famous play, by a skilled troupe. Congratulations.

This 140-minute spectacle can be seen at the Old Mill Theatre, Corner Mends Street and Mill Point Road, South Perth, with performances each night at 7.30 (not as some adverts say ‘8.00’) until Saturday 13^th December  7.30 pm.

        When a typhoon passes through Kansas, Aunt Em’s house is hurtled through the air and lands on an evil witch, killing her. Her sister, Olga (Craig Menner), the ugly, wicked Witch of the East decides to take revenge on Aunt Em (Trish Theisinger), young Dorothy (Arianne Westcott-King), and their scruffy dog, Toto (Harrison Wake). However, Olga notices that Dorothy has bright ruby-red slippers with magical properties and is determined to have them.

        Dorothy was getting very worried about Olga’s threat, when Glinda (Nicole Miller) the good Fairy of the West arrives with her hapless friend, Letitia (Trevor Dhu). Glinda explains that Dorothy should travel to the Emerald City to see the Wizard of Oz and seek his help – just follow the yellow brick road. So, guided by the gatekeeper (Rex Gray), Dorothy set off in search of the Wizard with a group of delightful, little people – the Munchkins.

        On her way, Dorothy met a scarecrow (Tim Prosser) leaning on a fence, he had a beautiful singing voice, but no brain. Next, she met a very timid lion (Neil Cartmell), who desperately needed some courage, and finally she met a Tinman (Sarah Christiner), who would love to have a heart. Farther down the road, Dorothy was surprised to meet a famous pop singer, a King from the 70s (a totally unrecognisable Ted Bull). Olga’s mischievous helpers, the wild monkeys, attack the party. Even if the group survives this, there is still the Wizard’s obstinate Chamberlain (Matthew Styles) to get past.

The children, aged from 5 to 14, played the loveable, happy Munchkins and the diabolical, trouble-making Monkeys. The children were magnificent, the Munchkins smiled constantly as they performed, danced in perfect sync and sang with gusto. Their costumes (as for all the others, were designed by Jenny Prosser, Susan Sator, Maree Grayden) were delightful. The Monkeys, with their threatening baboon like faces, glowered and snarled as they leapt around doing cartwheel. Their makeup (designed by Nicolle Miller, and Lisa Piggott) was most impressive, and considering the number of youngsters involved a huge amount of work. Jenny Prosser made most of the costumes. The Tinman’s costume really rattled and clanged as he walked – poor Sarah must have suffered inside, but it was worth it.

Once again, the sets needed that extra sparkle and with Maree Grayden, Ben Davis and Phil Barnett’s input Tim Prosser has done another sterling job with artworks for his set painting.

The Old Mill has some several LED lights that gives a new dimension to the scenery and the atmosphere. Ben and Flynn Vincent operated Ben Davis’ complex lighting design. Flynn is new to the bio box, so on the preview there were a couple of slow light changes, but considering the complexity of the show, I was most impressed and am sure he will be ‘spot’ on for the opening. Bree Vreedenburgh’s sound design required one or two unusual snippets, but this went well with crisp control by Jeremy Skinner.

As musical director, Bree Vreedenburgh had a huge amount of singing and dancing to cope with but the whole team worked very well.

The Munchkins were:- Sienna Birkett, Abbey Breust, Charlotte Broadbent, Caiden Cartmell, Kian Cartmell, Indigo Ellis, Anna Grayden, Hannah Harrison, Tahlia Menner, Grace Pooley, Atira Shack, Brooke Skinner, Naomi Skinner, Adele Stewart.

The evil Monkeys were:- Alexander Broadbent, Hannah Claux, Ryan Drummond, Megan Grayden, Madeline Hooker, Matthew Hutchinson, Kasey Pavlovich, Digby Petit, William Sartor, Aaron Skinner, Georgia Weston-Arnold.

Director Maree Grayden and her assistant Kylie Bywater’s can be most proud of this pantomime; it has all of the magical elements with some wonderful performances from the main characters.

Thoroughly enjoyable, children of all ages will love it – oh no they won’t – oh yes they WILL!