This charmer of a small-scale Australian play is a great 5-hander comedy for an ensemble of women, describing the events when a recently-returned doctor upsets the balance in a small country town when she begins to question how the annual potato race shares its prize money between the men's and the women's event. Melanie Tait's script gives a rich array of small-country town characters and multiple narrative twists and turns, and never condescends to the characters to make them simple stock types - they all have different layers and are capable of surprising and delighting us. There's strong performances throughout the cast, from Valerie Bader's stoic and stern Bev (Bader has a great way with a dry one-liner), Merridy Eastman's cheerfully friendly Barb, Sharon Millerchip's reluctant agitator Penny, Amber McMahon's slightly trashy Nikki, and Sapidah Kian's supportive Rania. Priscilla Jackman directs this tightly and charmingly on Michael Scott-Mitchell's clever set, flowing the action together in a way that makes a fun night out. Catch it before it goes!
No comments:
Post a Comment