This production is a community partnership between Laughing Horse Productions Inc. and the Koorliny Arts Centre. The show is in the comfortable, 72-seat, black-box theatre, with cabaret seating, so BYO food but no alcohol.

The 90-minute shows are at 8.00 on Friday and Saturday nights until 23^rd July, with a matinée on Saturday at 2,00 pm.

The scene is backstage at the Theatre Baroque. The stage has had one third removed, so part of the acting area – the green room – is at the same level as the cabaret seating. The raised stage shows the on-stage area, behind the back wall flats of the play being enacted. The very realistic set, with numerous props, was the work of the whole team. The sound and lighting was professionally operated by the Koorliny staff.

       The actors and crew gradually drift onto the stage ready for the final rehearsal of ‘Don Juan in Cleveland’, an absurdist play written by young Jenny (Emmalee Bialas) – or ‘Skippy’ as she is known to the cast. When called by the stage manager, Maxine (Kelly van Geest), the arrogant stage idol of a generation ago, Burton Cavendish, does not appear. The director, Lou (Nicola Chapman), who is being driven mad by the demands of the aging diva, Mercedes (Shelley Whiteaker) sends her young assistant director, Polly (Alexis Mercer) into Cavendish’s dressing room to chase him up.

        Meanwhile, the cast with minor parts, including multi-talented, character actress, Claire (Tracy Bolton) and Roman soldier, Agnes (Jodie Sweetman) are settling down off stage for a game of cards with the costumer, Yolanda (Linda Bickley) – a born card shark. Poverty stricken actor, Efrem Lockhart (Zac Nesbitt) is actually living in the theatre, unknown to the cast or management.

        Minutes before curtain-up, Cavendish is found dead. Whatever happens, the show’s producer, Mr Oberclaw (Michael Forman) must not find out. Cavendish’s understudy is newcomer, Ajax (Sam Barnett) but will he be good enough to fool the audience that he IS Cavendish? Perhaps if lighting tech, Goose (Jaime Bialas) dims the lights the ruse might come off. Then several of Ajax’s worst nightmares happen together – his mother (Rach Hayter, great) arrives followed by Cavendish’s biggest critic, Tyler Barrington (Mishka Miller) and a threatening, heavy built man, Pete (no name credit given – Lawson Sweetman? – but one of the stars of the show) who is a sex magnet for Ginger (Philippa Bialas) yet another starving actress.

        Will the show be a disaster? Will it be cancelled? Their future looks grim.

With a cast of 16 and a complex scene set by the playwright, I thought the first few minutes could have been edited and the characters reduced by 3 or 4. However, in the hands of such an experienced director, Adam Salathiel, aided by his assistant director, Cally Zanik, the cast conquered their characterisations perfectly, and ensured the show moved along at a cracking pace.

The director was faced with how to blend of a straight comedy, a drama and a farce? How should he direct the show? Well he achieved the ideal balance between all genres. With the dialogue constantly moving around the stage, from one group of actors to another, it could easily have become bitty, but the cast knew when to keep their chatter almost silent and never missed a cue. The actors playing the stage crew, had just a touch of panic, but played their parts straight; whereas the actors of the ‘cast’ had the right amount of ‘ham’ and ‘temperament’ without becoming caricatures or it turning slapstick. Well done to all.

My wife, who strongly dislikes farces, loved this show. It was very well received by the audience at the curtain call, and there were many comments like ‘great fun’ heard afterwards.

Just a couple of shows left, and with a limited audience of only 71 seats per show, booking is advisable.

On a cold night, good fun in a cosy venue.

Joseph served three years in the West African Republic of Senegal Peace Corps. He then earned a Masters in Dramatic Writing, before going on to teach Essay Writing at a New York university.

This high quality, 90-minute drama is filled with black humour, can be seen at Playlovers, Hackett Hall, Draper Street, Floreat on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 8.00 until the 25^th July. There are Sunday matinees, at 2.00 pm, on the 12^th and 19^th.

The set comprises a theatre makeup room, on the apron at each side of the stage; this is where the two cast members get changed, or should I say metamorphosed between every scene?

The stage itself is totally black. There are two metal-framed beds and other pieces of black furniture (stage managed by Cassidy Bodenham). The two cast members carried out the minor scene changes, but Cassidy had a great deal of planning for their costume changes and makeup. Three projectors are used to give pictorial information (Caitlin Telcik, Claire Taylor).

The story takes place from the mid 1960s, over a period of 30 years,. We see a meeting of the couple every 4 or 5 years, but not in chronological order.

 

       Most young boys who fancy a girl at school would, rather than profess his love, pull her hair or hit her. However, for eight-year-old Doug (Sam Barnett), he attention seeks by hurting himself with ridiculously dangerous stunts. The girl he is trying to attract is Kayleen (Kimberley Harris), who has a fascination with scars and blood.

       As the years go on, we see this strange couple maturing; but in his search for empathy rather than sympathy, Doug still needs to share his latest wound – and there are numerous – or a desire to talk about his bodily functions, is never very far away. Yes, Doug is a very confused young man. Kayleen, on the other hand, has a strong desire to better herself, to find someone to love her, but most of all, escape from her uncaring parents.

       Can Doug and Kayleen’s relationship ever blossom? Or will an awful existence befall them both?

 

These two wonderful actors have shown real talent. A two-hander play is extremely difficult at any time, but this 90-minute play has no interval, and the added undertaking of a mild American accent – both actors’ accents matched, yeeh!!, and were natural not grating. Due to an original cast member having other commitments, Kim was only given her part 3 weeks ago, what a remarkable performance. Both characters’ temperaments changed many times throughout the play, ranging from severely ill to downright aggressive, but with the strong guidance of the director, Kristen Twynam-Perkins and her assistant director, Natalie Cox, the result was amazing. Perfect pace, not a line missed genuine rapport and emotion between the characters. Excellent performances.

It was fascinating to see how much thought had been put into the makeup (gore courtesy of Manuao TeAotonga) and the costumes, as the characters’ ages changed, the subtleties of the fashion for the particular era always shone through. The well-selected music (sound operation by Dylan Shelton) set the year, with more serious Russian classical music being played for the reasonably lengthy costume and makeup changes. The lighting design (John Woolrych) was simple but most effective, smoothly operated by Catherine O’Donoghue.

I always admire a team that take on a play that is unusual and challenging, this team went for a difficult experiment and won.