Superb mix of laughter and drama
INCLEMENT weather could not deter an enthusiastic audience from attending the opening night of Townsville Little Theatre’s final production for 2022, an English farce titled Looking for Love.
What can you do when your husband of more than 20 years walks out on you to move in with a much younger woman? For Molly Beale (another tour de force performance from Jacinta Ryan), despair turns to hope when her best friend Fiona (beautifully played by Kath Holtschilt) introduces her to a book which is a six-step guide claiming to guarantee happiness for women who follow the steps exactly.
The plan works rather too well for Molly and after a complete makeover and shopping spree she ends up with three suitors, the local vicar (Rick Dart), a virile young masseur (Brodie Stewart) and eventually, her estranged husband James (Stephen Duffie), seeing the result of the transformation, decides he wants her back as well. All three give commendable performances.
Complicating things are Molly’s concerned daughter Claire (Riah Avery), friend Lyn (Nadine Ellery) and nosy, annoying next door neighbour Nancy (Suzy Gilmour).
Eric Blyth appears as Paul, an interested bystander. Eric’s vast theatre experience enables him to steal most of his scenes and deliver some great lines. In one scene he makes an appearance in one of the more outlandish costumes we’ve seen in a Townsville Little Theatre production for some time.
A welcome highlight of the play is that three of the actors (Riah, Nadine and Brodie) are all making their debuts on a Townsville stage. It’s great to see experienced and talented newcomers to the city expand our circle of performers.
As with many farces, the first act is a little slow as it sets up the situations which are then ripe to plunder for maximum laughs in the second. Playwright Raymond Hopkins has about a dozen similar plays published, all with Love in their title. He has written them all in the past 25 years but has tried to emulate the great English farces of the 1950s and 60s without quite achieving the same hilarious results.
To his credit he gives all the proceeds from his works to Multiple Sclerosis research.
In less experienced hands this play would not work as well as it does. Alan Cooke is an old hand at directing farce and with his deft casting and ability to make the most of a suitable number of welltimed entrances, exits and phone calls, pulls it all together to create an entertaining and genuinely funny show that had the opening night audience in stitches.
The costuming and set are perfectly suited for the production.
There are just three more opportunities to see Looking for Love; tonight and tomorrow at 7.30, with a matinee tomorrow at 2. Tickets will be available at the door at Pimlico Performing Arts Centre, Fulham Road.