Penny Black

‘Penny Black’ was written and crafted by 22 yrs old, UWA English student Gerald Lillywhite. His play is presented by the University Dramatic Society, in the Dolphin Theatre, UWA, Nedlands. It is being performed for one week only, until 4^th September, with all performances starting at 7.30 pm.  

As a string quartet plays a delightful 4 or 5 minute overture piece by Ashlee Clapp, the music captures firstly the general life of the late eighteen hundreds, with the clip-clop of the carriages passing by, then it turns into a sinister passage before ending with ‘the chase’. Beautifully performed by live musicians.

        In the late Victorian era, widower Arthur Worthing found two homeless young boys, the serious and reserved Victor (James Marzec) and the younger, fun-loving William (Angus Willoughby). He took them into his home, where they were brought up by a nanny, Mrs Bowry (Sophie McCormish). Arthur’s daughters, the half sisters are as chalk and cheese, one the bubbly but reserved, Parthena (Julia Waite) and the other the love-seeking Hope (Jessica Dunn). They got along very well with their new ‘brothers’. 

        Twenty years later we find ourselves in the Worthing’s London manor house where, after the death of the head of the household, butler Bosco (Elijah Melvin) is showing into the study, potential candidates for the post of family bookkeeper. One man in particular (Charlotte Devenport – not on cast list) appeals to William.

        When Detective Inspector – and Uncle - Harry (Alex McArthur) arrives he informs the brothers that Barnaby is back! They have never heard of Barnaby, because Barnaby (James Sweeny) was cast out of the family circle as child for his dastardly deeds, and sent overseas.

         The children’s Godfather, Fredrick Hopkins (Kristian Barron) checks in on the family every now and again to ensure that all is well.

          As always, one can rely upon the servants Marco (David Meyer) and the two maids (Julia Minassian and Evelyn Ruth Froend) to dig out the dirt, and believe me there is plenty of sinister dirt.

The set, superbly designed by Emma Craig, is divided into three areas of the rambling manor house that are clearly linked by the actors. The rooms’ sets have few walls, but an extensive collection of antique furniture and props, some like the bed, very well sourced. Emma also designed the wonderful costumes, which were well cut and stylish. The vision is complemented by Courtney Hudson’s subtle make-up. Josh Veitch’s fine lighting used just the right lamp, colour and illumination throughout.

The direction of this 225 minutes play – yes 3 hours and 45 minutes – was amazing. The 23 yrs old director, Michael Abercromby, is to be congratulated on keeping the pace moving rapidly and filling the stage with movement. A large cast of 13, but the teamwork was slick, the delivery of the richly written, and at times tongue-tying, script must have been problematic, but the actors were well rehearsed and confident, with the result that the audience were held in awe.

The storyline was like a fine blend of a tense Sherlock Holmes story and the comedy of Wilde’s ‘The Importance’, the structure and vocabulary used was accurate and imaginative. Although long, there are virtually no areas that could be thinned or shortened. The first half develops the wonderful characters, and the second filled with action. Lillywhite played with the audience by slipping in the odd half-quote from various plays. He has integrated a huge amount of facts and mannerisms of the period. Extremely clever and mature writing, of the quality seen only once in a decade.

Yes this is a long play, but I could easily watch it all over again tonight.

With tickets priced at a low $14, almost all of the 225 seats of the Dolphin were taken, and I am sure will be for the rest of the season, when the word gets around about this brilliantly written play. It oozes quality throughout. A truly magnificent production.

Gordon the Optom