A Laughing Matter- Graduate Dramatic Society

Last night saw the opening of Grads' latest production, A LAUGHING MATTER, at the Dolphin Theatre at UWA. Originally commissioned by the National Theatre in London, A Laughing Matter (written by April De Angelis) is a bawdy romp of a play about a bawdy romp of a play. As it were. It tells the semi-fictional tale of David Garrick (Peter Clark), the most celebrated actor of his generation. He is caught between having to please his Patron, Lady Kensington (Meredith Daniel), by putting on the highly moralistic (and incredibly boring) 'A Fashionable Lover', and wanting to produce the much more low brow (but extremely funny) 'She Stoops To Conquer'. To add to his woes, his wife likes hiding in the closet, his actors like hitting the bottle, and his kidney stones like to act up at exactly the wrong moment. What's the most famous actor in the world to do? Sadly, he's forced to choose the former, and the second act explores the hilariously disastrous consequences of his choice. Having seen the fabulous poster, and knowing close to half the actors in the play, I was very much looking forward to seeing this show. And I can't say I was disappointed. The acting was above par for such a large cast (18 souls), the costumes (especially on Mrs Garrick and Mrs Woffington) were gorgeous, and the set design was well set up and executed. Furthermore, there are some genuinely funny, laugh-out-loud moments in this play, folks. One thing I unexpectedly enjoyed about this production was the pathos that the director, Susan Lynch, brought out. I was expecting and got, as stated above, a bawdy romp, but I was also treated to a psychological insight into a man who revolutionised the actor's art in no small measure. We see a strong insight into not only the power but the pitfalls a man of Garrick's reputation can find himself caught in. It is a cautionary tale as much as it is a full-of-fun farce. On the down side, however, the level of pathos running throughout the main body of the production serves to lessen the truly poignant moments of the final scenes. One might feel, as I did, that Dr Samuel Johnson's (Barry Park's) final revelation should be a heart breaker, simply because it comes as such a shock after the farcical fun of the scene that precedes it. However, the pathos is not so much to blame, methinks, as the other dreaded P word: PACE At two hours and forty-five mintues (not including interval) the play was far too long. One of my fellow attendees said afterwards that he would have taken a big red marker to the script, and whilst I am inclined to agree that a little pruning might have been in order, it was the energy of the actors and the speed of the cues that needed attention. In a play like this the pace is everything. A farce (which most of the second half of the play is) needs to be run so quickly that the actors are almost falling over each other to say their lines. Otherwise, it simply turns into, well, a farce... as it were. Having said that, there were some notable performers who really brought out the manic energy the play needed. Grant Watson was wonderful as Dr Goldsmith, and his wig should perhaps be considered for an award category of its own. In the same vein, Mrs Garrick (Alysha Cleeman) was a true delight to watch. Both actors brought a sense of heightened reality to their characters which gave their scenes a wonderful vitality. More please! Despite my grumblings over pace, the rest of the show was very good. I'd like to point out every actor in the show, not just the ones I mentioned, for each giving their character something special. To be short: they all had their moments. All in all, I would like to say that I had an entertaining evening and admired the actors for their work, especially in making themselves heard over a rather loud thunderstorm that happened to drop by. A Laughing Matter runs until the November 8th, bookings through Bocs.