Tainted Love by Johnny Grim The Reviews in SA

Reviews from the Adelaide Theatre Press about Tainted Love by Johnny Grim. Produced in Adelaide by Spotlight Theatre Co. Glam Adelaide Review: Tainted Love Presented by Spotlight Theatre Company Reviewed Thursday 21th June 2013 Johnny Grim’s Tainted Love is a lightly comical play featuring middle age women tackling the rough road to divorce and beyond with the assistance of a few bottles of wine. Julie (Theresa Dolman) hasn’t seen her best mates Carol (Maxine Grubel), Sheila (Tina Cini) and Tess (Joanna Webb) for years so decides to invite them all over for a few drinks. The usual pleasantries initiate with the first glass, the well-loved jokes snap out, and compliments are given to Julie’s new, wonky gazebo. As the wine flows the gossip from their lives begins to spill out and Julie is harbouring the biggest revelation of the lot. The first half of the performance is dedicated to introducing the girls, who have known each other since high school. Now, just over fifty years old, they talk about the lost time in their lives and how far they have actually come. They dance while reflecting on their time in the smoky discos and laugh at the misfortunes of others they grew up with, including their now ex-husbands. Following intermission the true care in the girl’s friendship is exposed. The drinks are well and truly flowing as is their sass. There is nothing off limits as they come to terms with their lives. The variety of the characters follows the usual recipe for a story centred around a group of friends: There’s Julie, the lead and apparently well-off one, her best friend, Carol, the emotionally distant one, Sheila, and the ditzy one, Tess. The actors bring these standard characters to a real and believable position. The humour matches each character while the audience peers into what British women are gossiping about when they are alone with each other. Director Tony Moore has selected a cast who match their intended characters in costume and presence, and he successfully uses the entirety of the space inside the Arch theatre. The simple design of the set works nicely for the play. It is set in a single room for the length of the play with neat white lounges, a fire at one end and a small kitchen table at the other. Everything in the room is tidy and a statement of the life Julie is currently living in. Overall, the play was wonderfully performed by the whole cast despite a couple stumbles on lines. Some of the lighting work, to create spotlight moments, broke the mood of the scene a little but the feeling of being in a suburban living room quickly returned once the entire room was lit again. The mood of the play dances between gently comedic to heartfelt and back again. There is some room left in the script to further explore the psychological motives for someone seeking to leave a thirty-year marriage for no particular reason other than boredom. Reviewed by Alex Dunkin Adelaide Theatre Guide TAINTED LOVE Spotlight Theatre Company Holden Street Theatres Until 29 June 2013 Review by Anthony Vawser Achieving certain age-related milestones usually inspires reflection and self-examination. You have to accept that there’s no turning back the clock, but you’ll always have the memories, good times and bad alike – and if you’re lucky, the friends you loved (and who loved you) back then will still be by your side today. Maybe you’ll have learnt some valuable lessons from the experiences (and mistakes) of the past…or maybe you won’t…but it’s never too late to turn a corner in life, and find a new you. “Tainted Love”, a world premiere comedy from Spotlight Theatre Company, provides a most enjoyable look at four Northern-English-women in the middle phase of their lives, longing for more satisfaction than they seem to be getting, and wondering whether there are realistic possibilities beyond the boundaries that they’ve come to accept – but relishing the chance to get together and reminisce over a bottle or three. Director Tony Moore has pitched the emotional tone of the piece at a comfortable level between seriousness and laughs, sensibly placing the emphasis on smiles and chuckles, but with an air of sadness and uncertainty hanging over the crucial decisions that the central character must ultimately make for herself. The action is confined to a single lounge-room set but the pace and the staging are impressively fleet-footed throughout, with the interest level dipping only occasionally. The set design and lighting are suitably simple; however, a handful of spotlight effects, making each character the brief centre of attention in turn, are jarring and out-of-place, and don’t really work in the way they were presumably intended to. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is SENSATIONAL! (Haters of the 80s may disagree.) The abilities and expectations of husbands are gently mocked in “Tainted Love”, but that’s nothing compared to the drubbing that selfish adult children get. I have no doubt that this phenomenon exists, and that it deserves being highlighted/examined, but as dealt with here, it almost feels too extreme and unsubtle to be believed, too much of a stacked deck, rather than something the audience can draw their own conclusions about (or perhaps this opinion merely reflects a reluctance on the part of this reviewer to concede that there really are such revoltingly obnoxious offspring in this world!) Most of the revelations and observations in playwright Johnny Grim’s script are warm and accessible, to the point of feeling slightly soft and familiar. This does not significantly dampen the enjoyment of the experience, and those who have gone (or are going) through a similar time and situation in their own lives may well find that the experience lingers longer and hits home harder than it did for this (relatively) young, childless male critic. The undoubted highlight of “Tainted Love” is the exemplary work of the brilliantly well-chosen cast. The performances of Theresa Dolman, Maxine Grubel, Tina Cini and Joanna Webb are confident, natural and spot-on from start to finish. Rarely has this reviewer seen such a talented and committed ensemble inject so much juice and zest into an entertaining-but-lightweight script; Mike Leigh would be proud to have these ladies to weave a story around! In the end, Johnny Grim can be glad that he had them, and Tony Moore, to help make his play into the sweet treat that it ultimately is. Lovers of high-spirited human comedy (and 80s pop music) should check this one out.