This two hour, hilarious show by the ever-reliable Stirling Players, can be seen at the Stirling Theatre, in Morris Place, Innaloo on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights until 14^th May, with curtain up at 8.00 pm. There are also matinees on Sunday 1^st and 8^th May at 2.00 pm.

The main set is of an untidy, family home sitting room. On the apron at the side of the stage, is a Marriage Counsellor’s consulting room (Jim Chantry). There is a surprise set in the final scene (artwork Margot and Luc Watkins).

       The curtain opens to reveal a Marriage Counsellor (Jenni Glassford, continuing her everyday occupation?) chatting to a couple with marital problems. Barry (Tim Riessen) has been married happily for many years to Sally (Janet Weston – excellent), however, he has now retired and cannot understand why his domestic tasks should be increased, even though Sally is still in fulltime work.

     We flash back 3 months and find Barry languishing in his armchair, even though the room is desperately in need of cleaning. As he is reading, a young girl, Alice (Gema Seenarain) wanders into the room. He has never seen her before. It becomes clear that she is the new girlfriend of his lazy, useless son, Cameron (Steve Anderson).

      Barry and Sally’s elder daughter, Alisha (Natasha Van Odyck) is madly in love with an obsessive conservationist, James (Kieran McDonald), whilst the younger daughter, Kya (Neve Havercroft) is happy just to annoy everyone in order to get her own way.

      When Grandad Albie (Jim Chantry) arrives, Barry’s influence in the house seems to finally evaporate.

       Two other love interests are played by Melissa Skeffington and Carole Wilson – and there is little Chanel.

Few directors are capable of writing and directing their owns plays. Peter has had years of experience at both and although now proficient enough to tackle this play himself, he has recruited the help of an assistant director, Jann Rutherford.

The script was very well written, with the dialogue and attitudes of the young and old perfectly observed. I could hear the play dividing the audience, with the women commenting (during the play) ‘of course the house is dirty, men never do any housework’. Whilst the men could be heard sympathising with Barry, and commenting on the kids being glued to their mobiles.

The acting pace was superb, but although the scene changes were good, they could possibly be better planned. The fast moving stage team could carry props onto the stage when entering to clear the previous set, instead of making two journeys. On a floodlit stage, don’t worry about chair positions being correct to the centimetre. Even slowish scene changes can make it hard for the cast of a comedy to bring the pace back up.

This show was very well acted, almost the whole cast had to have ‘attitudes’, from anger to that of the 13-year-old going-on-23. Very good comedic delivery and body language. Michelle Tennant’s costumes clearly stated the personalities.

Ian Wilson’s tech design was above average, with good use of lighting and crisp, realistic, stereoscopic sound effects (operator Jane Sherwood).

This play was a huge amount of fun, very near the bone for many families, but one that I can recommend for a good night of entertainment. The script is a Peter Flanigan triumph.

With the photos taken by Terry Logan, a professional photographer married to one of the models, the 2000 WI calendar was released in April 1999. By Christmas, it had sold 88,000 copies raising half a million pounds. The proceeds were used to fund new laboratories in Leeds University, specifically for lymphoma and leukaemia research.

The script of this production seemed to have been updated, with quite a few differences from the previous versions that I have seen.

You can see this very funny and bold 135-minute production by the Stirling Players at The Stirling Theatre, Morris Place, Innaloo. Evening shows commence at 8.00 pm on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights until the 12^th of December, with a 2.00 pm matinee on Sunday 29^th November, and another on 6^th December.

The Yorkshire hills about 20 years ago. The set is the interior of the community hall, an old fibro building with cream walls.

        It is evening in the Yorkshire Dales’ village of Knapely. In the church hall, the ladies of the Women’s Institute, led by Chris (Sharon Menzies) are finishing their Tai Chi class, whilst Cora (Jenni Glassford) is left to sing the organisation’s anthem ‘Jerusalem’ alone. They are awaiting the arrival of Brenda (Julie Holmshaw), possibly their most boring guest speaker ever, her visit being organised by finicky Marie (Joan Scafe).

     During the meeting, Annie (Charlotte Weber) is updating her friends with the progress of John, her 54-year-old very sick husband (Alan Bascombe).

     The visits to the hospital involve long periods sitting on plastic chairs, so Chris and her husband, Rod (Paul Cook), suggest that they raise money for a settee for the waiting room. Marie is keen to have a change from the usual plum jam and sponge cake competitions, with the same old judge – the supercilious, Lady Cravenshire (Julie Holmshaw) – and instead to sell a calendar with beautiful photos of Wharfedale bridges. Chris utters ‘Boring’ and suggests a spicy calendar of photos produced by, and of, the girls of their Chapter.

     Attractive Celia (Jennifer McGrath) is keen on the calendar idea; however, it was not until they explained to the vicar’s daughter, Cora that they meant nude photos that the panic started. Ruth (Dale James / Gail Lusted) said she had misunderstood and refused to strip. Thankfully, Jessie (Janet Brandwood) uses large gauge knitting needles for her hobby.

     Annie found that one of the hospital porters, shy Lawrence (Milos Dragic), was a keen and capable photographer so he was ‘volunteered’. Ruth found a professional makeup girl, Elaine (Becky Barton) who was renowned for her generous free help.

     The girls had to face the National Conference of this staid organisation and put forward their case. Then, to their horror, another photographer, Liam (Milos Dragic) arrived to take promotional pictures.

I saw this play on the opening night, so the tensions were high. For the cast with an average age of around 50 and of all different figures, a great deal of credit must be given for them possibly having even more courage and pluck than the original calendar ladies, who were only photographed – not live. Then Dale, the poor director, – most capably – had to stand in for one of the ‘girls’ who could not appear on the night.

This cast has a tremendous laisse-faire attitude, getting down to the nitty-gritty and showing the audience what fun the original group must have had in the process. The audience was extremely supportive, with very positive comments during the intermission.

I realise how very difficult it is for so many theatrical groups to get set designers and builders. It involves a great deal of hard work and is often a thankless task, but I was a little disappointed with the set. The serving hatch had disappeared, but the cast did well without it. However, it was the lack of pictures and posters that made the community hall look stark, even some of the photo boards on the auditorium wall could have been borrowed, and would have made the set look more realistic and ‘lived in’. For the scene on the hill, one production of this show had, at each side of the proscenium arch, artwork showing the rolling hills of the Yorkshire dales. Then at the end of the play, the rear wall split to reveal a stunning panorama. I appreciate that this was extraordinary. Another show had trelliswork with flowers in front of the stage, so I was a little disappointed when the group appeared to sit on a blanket on the floor in the middle of the community hall, with no sign of vegetation anywhere. Perhaps a few pot plants on the stage apron and the hall in the darkness behind? Had the group been fortunate and rich enough to have the new LED lighting, then the blues and greens of nature would have been more easily displayed. Having said this, the final floral scene was spectacular.

A couple of actors were called upon to perform two different characters. Julie Holmshaw was wonderful, capturing different accents, stances, her walk was different and the costumes were markedly dissimilar. There was no doubt that she portrayed two different people. However, the other actor, although performing admirably, did cause some confusion to the audience who thought he was the same person on both occasions.

The direction of the play was wonderful; Dale always does a great job, with a good pace, plenty of fun and emotion. The cast managed to conquer the Yorkshire accent very well, even toffee-nosed Celia came out with a wonderful ‘gob full’ of vernacular.

Except for the aforementioned minor technicalities, the cast captured all of the emotions from sadness to hilarity with skill. Sharon Menzies was outstanding, her enthusiasm boosted the other players and the fun flowed through. The audience loved it.

This was an entertaining show, and if you haven’t seen ‘Calendar Girls’ in the past, try and catch it, you will have a most enjoyable night, saucy (but no real nudity). At Stirling, you can always be assured of a warm welcome.

Presented by Stirling Theatre Players, 25 Morris Place, Innaloo, this almost three hour musical can be seen on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 8.00 until 26^th September. There are Sunday matinees on 13^th and 20^th at 2.00 pm. It is a long show but time flies.

There is little scenery as such, but there are numerous, wonderful props used in the dozen and a half scenes. Michael Stronach, Jack Gordon and Luke Morgan constructed the brightly coloured sets.

The quality lighting and sound came from the reliable team of Ian and Carole Wilson. Sadly the dreaded headsets weren’t quite so reliable, which wasn’t really a problem until the noise of the pelting rain, drowned out the unfazed actors for a couple of minutes, as the storm passed through.

With so many scenes, it was imperative that stage manager, Liz Pemberton and her crew, Cassidy Pemberton, Brad Albert and Christine Pattison perfectly drilled and organised. The changes were slick, silent and speedy; indecisive work could have killed the show’s excellent pace. Well done.

The stage had a deep apron, with a central walkway leading into the first two rows of the audience.

Some of the youngster alternated nights, so both actors have been listed below.

       As in the Vaudeville Shows of the early 1940s, the placards (Annette Underhill) on an easel at the side of the stage were changed before each act.

        A middle-aged, frustrated and failed actress, Rose (Claudia Van Zeller) is shamelessly promoting her beautiful, Shirley Temple-like daughter, Baby June (Bella Freeman, Phoebe Tennent), whilst cruelly ignoring her plain, shy, older daughter, Baby Louise (Caitlin Knock, Mia Martin). At Uncle Jocko’s (David Cosgrove) TV talent contest, Rose berates the other young talent – a young clarinettist (Charlie Martin) and a pretty balloon girl (Elle Simpson).

      Back at her Pop’s (Paul Anderson) house, Rose tries to borrow more money for June’s career, but when she fails, she packs up, taking the girls from Seattle to LA, along with some newsboys (incl. Bailey Jubb) that she meets on the way. They all perform in down-market theatres for several years. (There is a clever transition scene where the family grow up and we rejoin them as young adults.)

     Rose meets Herbie (Trevor Preston) who used to be a theatrical agent, but is now barely scraping a living together. Rose’s gang move in with poor Herbie. The youngest has now grown up to become Dainty June (Tania Morrow), and Rose has added a pantomime cow (Jamie-Lee Olson, Kimberley Hill) to the cast of her ‘new’ show.

      Miss Cratchitt (Liz Pemberton) is the kind receptionist of an impresario, Mr Grantziger. She gives Rose’s troupe a chance, however, the adult newsboys Pastey (Terence Oliver Smith), Phil (Steve Anderson), Little Rock (Alex Fleckner) and Georgie (Caleb Stevens) after years of the same act, are now disillusioned actors.

      June quits, and so realising that they are broke Louise, now an attractive young lady (Madeleine Shaw) – who is in love with Tulsa (Liam Gobbert) – offers to join Burlesque. She shares a dressing room with dim Agnes (Tracey Endelbrecht); gone are the attractive showgirls (Olivia Taylor, Simonne Matthews), now Louise is with the old, worn out strippers (Helen Marshall, Paula Sayers, and Janet Brandwood – good on ya).

      What will happen to Louise, her Mum and her siblings?

The limitations of this community theatre forced the orchestra into a side room, off the main body of the auditorium, and yet the Musical Director, Krispin Maesalu, miraculously managed to follow the stage action. It was a cold night and so some of the embouchures took a couple of minutes to settle in, but after that, the melodies flowed well. From the soft romantic mood of “You’ll Never Get Away From Me”, to the sleazy striptease music; and the old classics the “Everything’s Coming up Roses” and “Together, Wherever We Go” added to the pleasure. The musicians played beautifully.

The orchestra comprised on reeds, Jeni Stevens, Catherine Motteram, Wayne Griffiths and Talitha (Dunn) Broughton with the brass section Sandra McKenna, Paul Marion, Harry Josland, Jo Coveney, Vanitha Hart, Emma Mondy and Ben Harrison. Josh Haines was on Keyboard, Alfred Bangezhano and drums, KudaKwashe Mateta. The string musicians were Rey Lecciones, Kristy Hughes, Stephanie Hughes and Amanda Reynolds.

Never work with children or animals? The brave – or mad – director, Celeste Underhill and her assistant Cassidy Pemberton did both. Without exception, the children were outstanding; from the one metre of dynamite, Bella, and all of the others, we were fed a meal of magic. They gave us splits – front and sideways – polished choreography (devised by Amber Southall, assisted by the director), and powerful singing with beaming smiles all of the way. Tremendous performances.

Fran Gordon was the wardrobe coordinator – a massive job – but with her costumes team of Carol Hughes, Lyn Hutcheson and Machelle Tennent we had everything from Technicolored dream coats that would make Joseph proud, to the stylish dresses of Rose who seemed to  ‘instantly’ change into 5 outfits in mere seconds – and ended with ‘nothing’. You could hear the husbands asking their wives why they could not get ready as quickly.

Congratulations to Claudia and Madeleine for their extra special performances. Liam and Tania for their dance routines and to Trevor for his moving act. The animals? A veritable zoo, all perfectly behaved. Wow!

When it came to the singing, the leads were powerful and clear. This was a long show but the technical skills, along with the quality performances, made it a must for all of the family – but be warned, book in advance, this show was a sell-out on our night, with NO tickets at the door.

Incidentally, Rose’s ‘strip’ routine was sexy and skilfully performed, but still safe to take your 12-year-old son or Grandma along to see. Thanks for a fun, fast paced, proficient spectacular.

‘Snakes and Ladders’ was written by South Australian book editor, Tony Moore. Tony also has a thorough all-round knowledge of theatre practise. This short play was carefully cut down from his full-length play; however, this edited version still retains the depth of emotions and quality of the original. The play was directed by Karin Staflund.

       Two elderly sisters share a house together and they are seated in their lounge, reading. Emily (Christine Ellis) is a retired English teacher, and the other, Charlotte (Janet Weston) has spent most of her married life bringing up her daughter, Beth (Natalie Aung Than).

       The family has always been close, but Beth starts asking uncomfortable questions.

Three good actresses, who have proven themselves several times in the past, just did not seem quite tuned in on this occasion. Of the four scenes, the first two were excellent, but the flow drifted for the third, then, for the last and important scene, everything was back on track for a very poignant ending. Most enjoyable. It was the first night, and there were a couple of Town Councillors to see the show. Sterling are one of the best and most professional groups, but sadly s*** happens to the best. A couple got up between scenes to go to the back to make the coffee, there were several fluffs and then the house lights came on before the end of the play. A bit of a shame.  

  ‘Level 12’ is an adult-themed play written by local playwright, Kate Beck – who is half the woman she was a few months ago, 50 kgs less to be precise (be proud). The play was directed by Sophie Prober and assisted by Sarah Cubbage.

     The hospital lift doors open and a VERY pregnant mother, Florinda (Natalie Baggen) waddles in. The hospital orderly, ‘M’ (Nicola Chapman) pushes the button and the doors start to close. A young man, Jackson (Ben Constantin) just manages to squeeze through the gap. He explains that after many months of job searching, he has just got a position in the hospital and is running late for his first day.

     The lift motor starts, then there is a shudder and the elevator grinds to a halt. The lift is stuck between floors and communication with the repair centre is frustrating.

     All three have genuine reasons to get out as soon as possible – but will they manage to leave their ‘prison’?

This is a very funny, well-written play, performed by a young but magnificent cast. The actors completely captured the situation. ‘M’ who has a delivery to make, Florinda who has a huge delivery to make, and Jackson a new job, all totally insecure and petrified by the situation. The audience genuinely felt for each and every character. The pace was fast, but the enunciation still clear and not gabbled. A clever and very saleable short play superbly performed. Three born comics with excellent pacing and delivery.

  ‘Broken Slipper’ is a new slant on several fairytales blended into one madcap experience. It was cleverly written by WA talent, Yvette Wall. The director was Alide Chaney, who managed to capture and guide the talented cast carefully through the zany humour perfectly. Fun set and costumes by Olivia Colja.

     Cinderella (Sophie Prober) has broken the rules by refusing to marry fop, Prince Charming (Sean Bullock) and so bringing her story into disrepute. She is called before a Tribunal headed by Grandma (Ursula Johnson), of Little Red Riding hood fame, with the Wicked Witch (Clayton Zwanenburg – brilliant) – from Hansel and Gretel – as second in charge. Nevertheless, even the Tribunal’s administrator, Snow White (Sharon Greenock) was not safe from the powers that be.      Are Grandma’s ideals outdated? Or will the standards of old survive?

This play had some very funny lines, perfectly delivered by an experienced cast. The characters were richly observed and blatantly presented. The result was plenty of belly laughs. The makeup for the Wicked Witch, coupled with his unexpected personality brought the house down on several occasions. The play may have been about children’s stories, but there were a few adult themes.   The mood lighting for each of the plays was by Ian Wilson. Beautifully laid out programme in full colour, easy to read. So many programmes now have tiny font size and yet wide empty margins. Three very well produced and directed plays. The very different themes and genres made the time fly by. A most enjoyable night out.

The performances are nightly at 8.00 until Saturday 2^nd August, with a 2.00 pm Sunday matinee.

‘At Home with the Herringbones’ is a very funny comedy / mystery by local playwright and actor, Bob Charteris. Bob also directed it.

It is a typical evening in the lounge of Herringbone Manor. 

     When the syntax pedant, Lord Herringbone (Paul Anderson) inherited the family estate he was a wealthy man. However, with the massive running costs, Lady Penelope (Fran Gordon) and himself have had to cut back on staff, and are now down to a cook and their doddery, inebriate butler, Wick (Peter Flannigan).

     Their house is crumbling around them and their daughter, Caroline (Alexandra D’Ulisse), is worried about their future so has asked a friend, Alyce (Georgi Ivers), to call around and have a chat to her parents.

This is a delightful story with several good story threads, all working very well. The dialogue is clever, with each character having distinct characteristics. The play flows well and the cast delivers the humour with aplomb. The pace was slightly off, but this was a first night, and I know the cast have the skills to correct this. Good chemistry, and assured performances. Fran Gordon was particularly good as the downtrodden wife.

‘The Audition’ was written by American playwright, Matt Thompson. It received a nomination for the ‘Best Short Comedy of 2000’. Here, it has been directed by Stirling’s stalwart, Christine Ellis and her young assistant, Teale Harrison.

        A community theatre is holding auditions for its next production – ‘Medea’. The officious stage manager (Teale Harrison) is in charge. Her assistant is poor, intimidated Robin (Moira Barker) who doesn’t have the slightest chance of doing anything correctly. To the stage manager’s chagrin, attractive, enthusiastic Kelley (Tiffany Kennedy) arrives early. She is followed by a mime artist, Question Mark (Prea Cunningham) and an effervescent, bouncy girl, Jules (Neve Haverscroft), both of whom cause the SM nightmares.

       When M. R. Irving (Gray Harrison) arrives for his audition, this young man seems to have had classical training and speaks with a perfect English accent. He is followed by a latecomer, a lookalike for Shirley Temple (Lexy Latto).

A very young cast, the oldest being about 15 yrs., were remarkably self-assured. They nailed their parts perfectly. They sang, danced, delivered comedy and spoke clearly with confidence. A delightful piece.

With such young talent as this bubbling along, some of the adults should be worried for their own future. ‘Never work with children!’ – These are kids ANY adult would love to work with.

A most pleasant night out with both plays being enthusiastically received by the audience.

Presented by the Stirling Players, this traditional style, English panto can be seen at the Stirling Theatre, Morris Place, Innaloo nightly at 8.00 pm until Saturday 14^th December.

The curtains open to reveal an impressive rear wall of flats, with a further flat in each wing, all of brightly painted, well-known nursery rhymes’ scenes.

         Through the thronging crowds, pushes an old crone, Queen Mavis (Christine Ellis) who had just retired and is about to announce the result of her successor. She waits until Jack (Caitlin Gee) and Jill (Sophie Prober) have finished falling down the hill, and Bo Peep (Alysha Seymour) has searched for her sheep. In the background there is the ugly, hooked-nosed witch, Hepzibah (Karina Grasshoff) accompanied by her loyal and intelligent cat, Astrophe (Shannon Berry). The other contestant is the beautiful, Little Witch Barbie (Amy Dear). When Barbie wins the election, she gets advice from the trendy little devil, ‘Old One’ (Prea Cunningham). Hepzibah is furious and puts a curse on the village.

       Old Mother Hubbard (Brendan Ellis) is searching for her starving dog, Woolly (Lila Raubenheimer), when her daughter, Polly (Sally Ostrowski) arrives. Old Mother Hubbard announces that because they are so poor, she has arranged for Polly to marry the extremely wealthy, but greedy, ancient Duke Ferdinand (Peter Boylen). The Duke arrives with his incompetent servants, Ruff (Josh Lang) and Scruff (Steve Anderson) to collect Polly. However, Polly is in love with a stunning, young Dick (Kylie Webb), but the saucy HP (Natalie Baggen) and Cloaca (Nicola Chapman) out to get her – Polly is very much at risk.

      Can Polly escape the grip of the dreaded Duke?

The villagers and Mooklings were played by Melinda Dear (MC), Melissa Skeffington (Lorien) and Jane Tiller (Sukie).

Director Matthew Randall and his co-director, Brendan Ellis have directed this old-style English Pantomime, where the script is written on two levels; one for the children, showing the old-fashioned story, the other with contemporary jokes and slightly blue double-entendres for the parents – although now, even the youngest children are starting to understand many of the adult jokes.

The principal boy, Kylie Webb, really captured the traditional style of the character in her excellent delivery, although there was no thigh slapping. A male in outrageous drag, on the other hand, usually plays the Dame; here, unfortunately, the dame’s costume was smart, standard ‘old lady’ clothes. There should have been masses of padding and tasteless textiles of wild rainbow colours. The dame’s delivery is normally like that of a husband caught in a farce scene, stooped and filled with panic, with arms flaying around, here it was played fairly straight.

The crowd scene at one stage, had the villagers standing in a straight diagonal line, when milling around would have added to the excitement.

The villagers smiled and showed interest at what was happening on the stage. The baddies were great, especially Hepzibah, Cloaca with her swirling cape who really captured the audience, and HP, who would put fear into any villager. The animals, Woolly and Astrophe were great fun and sparkled. The team worked well, even with a large cast there was not a weak link.

The well-played music (Tim Newhouse) was lively, although I felt the dancers did not employ it enough. Perhaps a little more volume as this is a musical and loud bouncy show.

In almost every department, sound, lighting, costume, set, choreography, special effects, slapstick and general pantomime, the magical glow was only reaching about 80% of the quality potential. The cast were generally strong, but could have been employed more. Because of this the audience participation and banter was flat, very little booing at the witches, virtually no ‘behind you’, even when prompted by the director and myself in the audience.

An enjoyable panto, good fun but unfortunately just missed the mark.

Presented by the Stirling Players at the Stirling Theatre, Morris Place, Innaloo. The evening shows start at 8.00 pm until Saturday 27th July, with the Sunday matinees at 2.00 pm on the 14th and 21st.

The stage has no flats, the stage surrounded by black drapes. A few props have been specially made.

It is just after lunch on a hot Christmas Day in Sydney, Mum (Caroline Geraghty) and Dad (Jason Pearce) are sitting on the settee watching the Queen’s Speech. Their two sons are arguing as usual. The older son, Colin (Steve Anderson) is at that awkward teenage stage and never seems to agree with anyone. The younger lad, Luke (Seamus Harrison) has eaten an amazing amount of rubbish and feels sick. He is rushed to hospital with gastro, but the doctors are not happy.

When a few hospital visits become necessary, the stressed parents decide to send Colin to stay with his aunt and uncle in London. Colin has a great idea for getting the very best treatment for his kid brother.

Other than the central individual, Colin, there are twenty-five different characters in this play and director Carryn McLean, with simple costume changes (wardrobe Elaine Morgan) and a good range of accents by the cast, has done an excellent job in creating instantly recognisable, different personalities.

 

The two young men had huge demands made on them. Steve had a large amount of dialogue to learn and presented this with confidence. He had excellent enunciation and great interaction with the other players, but may I suggest his next step is to have a voice coach to help him develop a stronger second register? Seamus was superb and should be applauded for being accepted as a main player in the up and coming major production, ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’.

The one weakness was brought about by the 27 scenes. Five seconds delay by the stage team on entering the stage and again on leaving represents 5 minutes lost time over the length of the play, on top of the time taken for the actual scene shifting. A split stage could have overcome many of the delays and helped keep up the pace of the performance.

This is a very funny, easy to follow play for all of the family. A few tissues were produced by the audience in the later scenes. A pleasant story, well presented.