Reviewed Tuesday 13th April 2010
Presented by Steady Lads and Christine Dunstan
Venue: Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, King William Road, Adelaide
Duration: 2hrs 20 mins
Season: to 17 April 2010, Tue-Fri 7pm, Thu 1pm, Sat 3.30pm & 8pm
Tickets: Premium $55, Adult $45, Conc $30, Groups (6 or more) $30, Season Pass Adult $35, Season Pass Conc $28
Bookings: www.bass.net.au or 131 246
Written by Don Reid, this play, which won the 2006 Rodney Seaborn Playwright’s Award, documents the exercise sessions at a local gymnasium, Gerry’s Gym, where five long term friends gather weekly. Over the course of several sessions we meet and get to know them, seeing the changes that occur when one of them brings along a neighbour. Not only is he a stranger to the others but he is a Chinese Malaysian migrant, causing initial resentment from a few of the group on both levels. By the end of the play many things have changed, not all for the better. There are moments of great humour, even a few belly laughs, and others of tenderness and poignancy.
Director, Wayne Harrison, is off to a flying start with a cast of great Australian actors, many of them household names. The collective experience that they bring to the production is overwhelming. Nicholas Dare has created a smart and very workable set but the lighting is rather patchy at times and it seems unlikely, as actors walk in and out of shadow, that it accurately follows the design of Nicholas Higgins.
The group of five is led in their exercise routines by Keith Fraser, the Sar’ Major, played by Ronald Falk. He likes to have control and does not react well to the introduction of a new member without his prior approval, nor of what he sees as an attempt to take over. The joker in the pack is Jimmy McMurtrie, played by Ron Haddrick. Edwin Hodgeman is Les Weston, whose wealth cannot help[ his failing health. Russell Newman plays Patrick Guiness, a man whose family means everything to him. Shane Porteous is Rod Dean, the youngest in the group, who keeps his health problems hidden from the others. Stanley Chang is the newcomer to the group, with Jon Lam in the role. Stanley runs a dry cleaning business, but quickly wipes the smiles off the faces of those who immediately see him as a stereotype, when he reveals that he is a wealthy and successful businessman with a chain of shops spread across the suburbs.
Each of the group has their secrets, their worries, their prejudices and their hopes and dreams but what they all have in common is their advancing years. In the twilight of life they cling to their old comradeship, born in the wartime army, and maintain their comfortable routine of meeting for a little exercise, coffee, savoury biscuits with cheese and a varied condiment and a few songs. There is the usual banter and stirring that one finds in a group of long term friends, including some strong political disagreements, but running beneath this is that need for companionship.
Each of the actors creates a believable and three dimensional character, with a range of strengths, weaknesses and flaws. Together, they draw the audience into their world, taking us with them on their emotional journey as many unspoken things finally come out into the open. The individual characterisations are superb but it is the ensemble work that really sparkles. It is easy to believe that these really are a group of men who have spent most of their lives as friends. Even the Stage Manager, Ingrid Rahlen, gets in on the act, changing the set in the guise of a staff member at the gym.
This is a must see for anybody in their later years and anybody who knows somebody who fits that descrition, which is just about everybody. It only has a short run so be quick.
Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Glam Adelaide Arts Editor.
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