Party Piece
Fri, 4 Feb 2005, 10:35 amWalter Plinge1 post in thread
Party Piece
Fri, 4 Feb 2005, 10:35 amI was invited along to see the opening night of Wanneroo's latest season, Party Piece, and, while I'm not really anyone of importance, I know that it still interests the cast to find out what their audiences thought of their efforts.
Straight off, the set was put together very well. It seems a daunting idea to create two whole double-storey house backs and their yards in any space but the design allowed the set to be used all over.
The script wasn't overly complicated. In fact, you could say that, plot-wise, not much really happened. Though for me, I only realised this until after I left the theatre because I was so caught up in the shenanigans going on in the performance. Don't get me wrong - I'm not an idiot. I do realise that was probably the point. This just goes to show that a good, well-timed comedy can leave an audience in a state of stupor and silly grins for two hours. That said, however, the cast wasn't perfectly in tune this night - a forgotten cue every now and then, jumbled lines and, from where I was sitting right near the back, the heard need for the Prompt once or twice. But, hey, it was the first night and I believe that an audience should always be a little forgiving on the first night. Especially with such insignificant bloopers (unless something really bad happened - either way, it wasn't noticeable).
Specifically, I quite enjoyed the performances of Bob Mainwaring, Colleen Hopkins and Ryan Taaffe. Bob and Colleen together as the Smethurts made a smashing "team", with Colleen showing the cracks in the team's spirit with a right balance of rigidity and put-on enthusiasm. I'm also a sucker for a man flouncing about in a wig and dress, so extra kudos to Bob for his lovely Ginger. Ryan Taaffe as lower-class David Hinson delivered his one-liners with great timing and with the smugness of any smart-arse bloke put in his situations.
Tiffany Kailis seems to be an expert in the art of eye-rolling and rightly so - poor Jennifer and the nagging she has to put up with. Pardon my ignorance, but is she supposed to trip over the Zimmer frame into the house like that? If she is - it was wonderfully realistic. If she wasn't - she should. It was great (oh, and I hope she wasn't hurt...). It wasn't until the second act that I really saw Mrs Hinson as the badgering old bother that she is. Stella Penn's knowing glares and waggling fingers came out in full force once the party started and I almost fell off my chair at her broom-shaking.
Also, it would be unfair not to mention the sleaze-appeal of Toby, Toby Hancock by Craig Angelos and the killer legs of Sandy played by Claire Jenner. While neither of these two gave the strongest performances of the night, their characterisations were identifiable and worthy of a few snorts of laughter.
Overall, an extremely funny play that picks up considerably in the second act - so don't leave during intermission! There may have been many more lines worthy of laughs but they were lost by poor deliverance but, after performing to an almost-full audience, I'm sure the cast would know when and how to improve that. Anyway, I think that when you have audience members yelling out "PHONE!" as they leave the theatre, you know you have a winner on your hands.
(As a side-note, I wouldn't be surprised if many patrons complained about the air-conditioning in the theatre after the play as they did to themselves during intermission. I do believe that pure logic should over-rule expectations because you would hope that, by now, people would be experienced with any sort of theatre, be it play or movie, and know to always bring something warm in case of air-conditioning. I would rather be cold and sitting on wooly seats than hot and sitting on wooly seats, particularly with so many people in a closed area.)
- Sandy Hinson
Straight off, the set was put together very well. It seems a daunting idea to create two whole double-storey house backs and their yards in any space but the design allowed the set to be used all over.
The script wasn't overly complicated. In fact, you could say that, plot-wise, not much really happened. Though for me, I only realised this until after I left the theatre because I was so caught up in the shenanigans going on in the performance. Don't get me wrong - I'm not an idiot. I do realise that was probably the point. This just goes to show that a good, well-timed comedy can leave an audience in a state of stupor and silly grins for two hours. That said, however, the cast wasn't perfectly in tune this night - a forgotten cue every now and then, jumbled lines and, from where I was sitting right near the back, the heard need for the Prompt once or twice. But, hey, it was the first night and I believe that an audience should always be a little forgiving on the first night. Especially with such insignificant bloopers (unless something really bad happened - either way, it wasn't noticeable).
Specifically, I quite enjoyed the performances of Bob Mainwaring, Colleen Hopkins and Ryan Taaffe. Bob and Colleen together as the Smethurts made a smashing "team", with Colleen showing the cracks in the team's spirit with a right balance of rigidity and put-on enthusiasm. I'm also a sucker for a man flouncing about in a wig and dress, so extra kudos to Bob for his lovely Ginger. Ryan Taaffe as lower-class David Hinson delivered his one-liners with great timing and with the smugness of any smart-arse bloke put in his situations.
Tiffany Kailis seems to be an expert in the art of eye-rolling and rightly so - poor Jennifer and the nagging she has to put up with. Pardon my ignorance, but is she supposed to trip over the Zimmer frame into the house like that? If she is - it was wonderfully realistic. If she wasn't - she should. It was great (oh, and I hope she wasn't hurt...). It wasn't until the second act that I really saw Mrs Hinson as the badgering old bother that she is. Stella Penn's knowing glares and waggling fingers came out in full force once the party started and I almost fell off my chair at her broom-shaking.
Also, it would be unfair not to mention the sleaze-appeal of Toby, Toby Hancock by Craig Angelos and the killer legs of Sandy played by Claire Jenner. While neither of these two gave the strongest performances of the night, their characterisations were identifiable and worthy of a few snorts of laughter.
Overall, an extremely funny play that picks up considerably in the second act - so don't leave during intermission! There may have been many more lines worthy of laughs but they were lost by poor deliverance but, after performing to an almost-full audience, I'm sure the cast would know when and how to improve that. Anyway, I think that when you have audience members yelling out "PHONE!" as they leave the theatre, you know you have a winner on your hands.
(As a side-note, I wouldn't be surprised if many patrons complained about the air-conditioning in the theatre after the play as they did to themselves during intermission. I do believe that pure logic should over-rule expectations because you would hope that, by now, people would be experienced with any sort of theatre, be it play or movie, and know to always bring something warm in case of air-conditioning. I would rather be cold and sitting on wooly seats than hot and sitting on wooly seats, particularly with so many people in a closed area.)
- Sandy Hinson
Walter PlingeFri, 4 Feb 2005, 10:35 am
I was invited along to see the opening night of Wanneroo's latest season, Party Piece, and, while I'm not really anyone of importance, I know that it still interests the cast to find out what their audiences thought of their efforts.
Straight off, the set was put together very well. It seems a daunting idea to create two whole double-storey house backs and their yards in any space but the design allowed the set to be used all over.
The script wasn't overly complicated. In fact, you could say that, plot-wise, not much really happened. Though for me, I only realised this until after I left the theatre because I was so caught up in the shenanigans going on in the performance. Don't get me wrong - I'm not an idiot. I do realise that was probably the point. This just goes to show that a good, well-timed comedy can leave an audience in a state of stupor and silly grins for two hours. That said, however, the cast wasn't perfectly in tune this night - a forgotten cue every now and then, jumbled lines and, from where I was sitting right near the back, the heard need for the Prompt once or twice. But, hey, it was the first night and I believe that an audience should always be a little forgiving on the first night. Especially with such insignificant bloopers (unless something really bad happened - either way, it wasn't noticeable).
Specifically, I quite enjoyed the performances of Bob Mainwaring, Colleen Hopkins and Ryan Taaffe. Bob and Colleen together as the Smethurts made a smashing "team", with Colleen showing the cracks in the team's spirit with a right balance of rigidity and put-on enthusiasm. I'm also a sucker for a man flouncing about in a wig and dress, so extra kudos to Bob for his lovely Ginger. Ryan Taaffe as lower-class David Hinson delivered his one-liners with great timing and with the smugness of any smart-arse bloke put in his situations.
Tiffany Kailis seems to be an expert in the art of eye-rolling and rightly so - poor Jennifer and the nagging she has to put up with. Pardon my ignorance, but is she supposed to trip over the Zimmer frame into the house like that? If she is - it was wonderfully realistic. If she wasn't - she should. It was great (oh, and I hope she wasn't hurt...). It wasn't until the second act that I really saw Mrs Hinson as the badgering old bother that she is. Stella Penn's knowing glares and waggling fingers came out in full force once the party started and I almost fell off my chair at her broom-shaking.
Also, it would be unfair not to mention the sleaze-appeal of Toby, Toby Hancock by Craig Angelos and the killer legs of Sandy played by Claire Jenner. While neither of these two gave the strongest performances of the night, their characterisations were identifiable and worthy of a few snorts of laughter.
Overall, an extremely funny play that picks up considerably in the second act - so don't leave during intermission! There may have been many more lines worthy of laughs but they were lost by poor deliverance but, after performing to an almost-full audience, I'm sure the cast would know when and how to improve that. Anyway, I think that when you have audience members yelling out "PHONE!" as they leave the theatre, you know you have a winner on your hands.
(As a side-note, I wouldn't be surprised if many patrons complained about the air-conditioning in the theatre after the play as they did to themselves during intermission. I do believe that pure logic should over-rule expectations because you would hope that, by now, people would be experienced with any sort of theatre, be it play or movie, and know to always bring something warm in case of air-conditioning. I would rather be cold and sitting on wooly seats than hot and sitting on wooly seats, particularly with so many people in a closed area.)
- Sandy Hinson
Straight off, the set was put together very well. It seems a daunting idea to create two whole double-storey house backs and their yards in any space but the design allowed the set to be used all over.
The script wasn't overly complicated. In fact, you could say that, plot-wise, not much really happened. Though for me, I only realised this until after I left the theatre because I was so caught up in the shenanigans going on in the performance. Don't get me wrong - I'm not an idiot. I do realise that was probably the point. This just goes to show that a good, well-timed comedy can leave an audience in a state of stupor and silly grins for two hours. That said, however, the cast wasn't perfectly in tune this night - a forgotten cue every now and then, jumbled lines and, from where I was sitting right near the back, the heard need for the Prompt once or twice. But, hey, it was the first night and I believe that an audience should always be a little forgiving on the first night. Especially with such insignificant bloopers (unless something really bad happened - either way, it wasn't noticeable).
Specifically, I quite enjoyed the performances of Bob Mainwaring, Colleen Hopkins and Ryan Taaffe. Bob and Colleen together as the Smethurts made a smashing "team", with Colleen showing the cracks in the team's spirit with a right balance of rigidity and put-on enthusiasm. I'm also a sucker for a man flouncing about in a wig and dress, so extra kudos to Bob for his lovely Ginger. Ryan Taaffe as lower-class David Hinson delivered his one-liners with great timing and with the smugness of any smart-arse bloke put in his situations.
Tiffany Kailis seems to be an expert in the art of eye-rolling and rightly so - poor Jennifer and the nagging she has to put up with. Pardon my ignorance, but is she supposed to trip over the Zimmer frame into the house like that? If she is - it was wonderfully realistic. If she wasn't - she should. It was great (oh, and I hope she wasn't hurt...). It wasn't until the second act that I really saw Mrs Hinson as the badgering old bother that she is. Stella Penn's knowing glares and waggling fingers came out in full force once the party started and I almost fell off my chair at her broom-shaking.
Also, it would be unfair not to mention the sleaze-appeal of Toby, Toby Hancock by Craig Angelos and the killer legs of Sandy played by Claire Jenner. While neither of these two gave the strongest performances of the night, their characterisations were identifiable and worthy of a few snorts of laughter.
Overall, an extremely funny play that picks up considerably in the second act - so don't leave during intermission! There may have been many more lines worthy of laughs but they were lost by poor deliverance but, after performing to an almost-full audience, I'm sure the cast would know when and how to improve that. Anyway, I think that when you have audience members yelling out "PHONE!" as they leave the theatre, you know you have a winner on your hands.
(As a side-note, I wouldn't be surprised if many patrons complained about the air-conditioning in the theatre after the play as they did to themselves during intermission. I do believe that pure logic should over-rule expectations because you would hope that, by now, people would be experienced with any sort of theatre, be it play or movie, and know to always bring something warm in case of air-conditioning. I would rather be cold and sitting on wooly seats than hot and sitting on wooly seats, particularly with so many people in a closed area.)
- Sandy Hinson