Don's Party

‘Don’s Party’, which was written by a young playwright, David Williamson, in 1976, is a play that has become an Australian new wave classic. This version is being performed at The Melville Theatre on the corner of Stock Road and Canning Highway, Palmyra. The 130-minute performances start at 8.00 pm each night until the 16^th July.

       On the 1969 Election Night, in a typical suburban Melbourne neighbourhood, boring Don (Jarrod Buttery) has convinced his prudish and reluctant wife, Kath (Angela Johnson) to hold a party for some of his raucous friends. Promised a night of drinking and sexual revelry his friends arrive – however, most have failed to tell their wives, the true motive behind the party.

       First on the doorstep is accountant Simon (Jeff Watkins), dressed in a cream Safari suit, and with him is his beautiful wife, Jody (Megan Palinkas) who, expecting more of a dinner party than a piss-up, has dressed in an evening gown for the occasion.

       Just as the first drinks are being poured, obnoxious Mal (Rod Short) and his miserable, hypochondriacal wife, Jenny (Maree Grayden) enter carrying, as requested on the invitation, their pornographic trophy for the night. Jenny immediate has a migraine and needs to quietly sit down in the corner. Closely behind is a heartbroken husband, Mack (Murray Jackson), who, because of his kinky habits, has been kicked out by his wife.

       Next to arrive is the dreary and tedious dentist, Evan (Chris Greenwood) with his dolly-bird wife, Kerry (Laila Gampfer).

        The TV announcer (Evan Taplin) announces that the swing to Labor is 8%, although things may change in a couple of hours when the WA results arrive. The group of friends are ecstatic, except Jody who is a Liberal! How did she get in?

        Mack is starting to drown his sorrows and find another ‘bosom buddy’ when brash and blatantly sex-hunting Cooley (Phil Barnet) arrives with his red hot chick, Susan (Breeahn Jones). Both of them are there to enjoy themselves, but as the booze flows so do the loose tongues, the insults and the atmosphere deteriorates. Whose pants will hit the floor first?

Congratulations to the director, Jeff Hansen, firstly in tackling a difficult classic but on making it so much funnier than the film. The cast worked beautifully as a team. Many of the actors getting into daring parts, that couldn’t be further from their real life characters. If you are going to put on a play like this, it has to be full on.

The comedic timing was perfect, the expressions and rich characterisation magnificent. There are 11 players in the cast, which is hard work for a director to control but with the lighting moving from area to area the party antics flowed.

The success lay in the subtlety of the acting; everyone gave just the right amount of input and gradually turned the joyous party mood into the happening from Hell.

The high quality set was very true to the late sixties, with appropriate, well-sourced furniture and trimmings – even a flight of ducks (although the large one goes at the front to protect the smaller ones in flight). Val Riches’ costumes made us older folk cringe; did we ever wear such horrible stuff? Yes! Safari suits, psychedelic dresses, large Paisley patterns and mini-skirts, oh the minis!!

Melville, after a couple of years in the wilderness, is certainly clawing its way back to the top echelons of the community theatre league.