Suddenly At Home - Melville

I'm not sure if there is a review of "Suddenly at Home" currently playing at Melville Theatre. Apologies if it exists already. I seem to be doing alot of spare of the moment theatre going lately. Seeing shows I really had little intention of seeing. But reviving contact with some theatre friends bought to light the realisation that they are all in the same show right now, so why not see it. So down I went - dragging my poor friend behind me - to Melville and got some tickets - at the door - for the matinee show on Oct 5th. The show was quite good. I enjoyed it. The show has a good twist at the end. My congratulations to the cast, crew and director Brenda Stanley. There wasn't much about this show that made me uncomfortable or that I didn't agree with. The first act has quite a few blackouts - really it's only three but for some reason it felt like so many. It did get annoying but talking about it after the show I'm not really helpful in realising ways to get around it. I did realise it showed the passing of time but it also helped to allow some 'dead bodies' to walk offstage easily. But some of the blackout's felt quite long. Ultimately though I'm no fan of blackouts - if they can be avoided. But thats just me. Some of the accents wavered a little. The two leading males - Lewis Johnson as Sam Blaine and Jeff Hansen as Glenn Howard were the two I noted - but in saying this it didn't happen often and was subtle when it did. My compliments to Sherrilee Walsh as Ruth with her difficult accent. I'd just watch some of the pronounciation because some words were a little hard to comprehend and took a few seconds thought to understand what you'd just said. My compliments to Norman Heath - I love listening to your voice. Last I saw Norman onstage was as Poole the butler in "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" at Harbour theatre and you stole the show then and you did it again - despite the small stage time Insp Appleton has in this show. I tip my hat to Olivia Darby as Sheila Wallis with your falling skills - although I wasn't sure if you were meant to fall off the couch - and found out my answer after the show. But how fun was that to rehearse? Kylie Calwell as Maggie Howard - yes I found your character annoying! I could understand where your husband was coming from. Felicity May does a beautiful job in portraying Maggie's sister Helen Tenby in her innocent inclusion in these events. Poor darling had little idea but took the brunt of it. You created beautiful empathy between the audience and Helen. My last compliments goes to Stephen Koczian who does very well as the slightly shifty Remick. The costume helped you along with the characterisation from my perspective. The dishevelled hair and not-quite-correct suit worked well to make you appear a little shifty. I hope to be seeing more of Stephen's performances around the place. The plot is quite good, alot of sitting and talking in the first act but it speeds through the second act with several twists thrown at the audience very quickly. My only problem with the plot was Sam Blaine signing the book and placing it on the shelf. The entire play I was expecting the book to create some sort of eye opener to those involved in te mystery but it just sat on the bookshelf and was never referred to again. It bugged me, quite a bit which I found surprising. For I see how the book served a purpose of introducing the character of Sam Blaine and in turn his relationship with Maggie Howard. Perhaps if Sam reads what is writing in the book perhaps something along the lines of "Maggie, didn't know you still read my work. Enjoy chapter nine? Sam." and put it down. It might add some closure on the issue. Other then that my compliments go to the crew, particularly the lighting operator Ian Black who didn't miss a beat - well the phone sort of half rung once - but with the amount of sound effects and lighting changes in this show I was very impressed. Also nice work on using the lamp and hall lights to signify time. I knew when it was night and when it was the afternoon etc. The set is well done with the several entrances and exits. And because it remains the same the entire show it made room for the designers to add all sorts of 'homely' knick-knacks to the place, giving it alot more detail, which I really liked. I would also, finally, like to mention the front of house staff run by Vanessa Jansen. Beautiful ladies who alsways have a smile on their face and enjoy a nice chat. So definately worth a see. The show runs Thursday and Friday night and closes on Saturday night this week. The show starts at 8pm with tickets priced at $15/$12.