‘Laughing Matters’, two one-act plays! Yes 100-minutes of laughs at the Stirling Theatre, Morris Place, Innaloo.
The performances are nightly at 8.00 until Saturday 2nd 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.