Adelaide Fringe

Fringe Review: The Lonliest Woman

Sir Hubert Wilkins was an Australian explorer and the story revolves around his 1931 unsuccessful attempt to travel under the Artic ice in a submarine.

3

Presented by Palmerston Projects
Reviewed 1 March 2020

Sir Hubert Wilkins was an Australian explorer and the story revolves around his 1931 unsuccessful attempt to travel under the Artic ice in a submarine. Most of the play is a conversation between his wife Suzanne and  William Randolph Hearst. The American media mogul had financed the expedition with the expectation of selling more newspapers as the heroic vogage unfolded.

I have to admit to knowing more about Hearst than about the explorer and his wife, who is at the centre of this play by Peter Madden. With immense wealth and power in the interlocking worlds of publishing, Hollywood and politics, Hearst was ‘a dictatorial control freak’ and not just over his employees but friends and family too (https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/devil-and-mr-hearst/).

Thus I was disappointed in the characterisation offered by Adrian Barnes, which seemed to me to present a man who was far too mild and reasonable. We get a mere glimpse of his power when he tells Lady Wilkins he will not pay her husband as the contracted fee was dependent on a successful passage under the pole. The response to this, offered by Michelle Nightgale as Lady Wilkins, was similarly disappointing – there was no passion in defence of her husband.

The occasional dialogue/narrations by Mark Healy, with a very convincing American accent, as reporter Don Iveson were some of the rare moments where any of the performers showed real energy – in and for the production. I wonder if more appropriate costumes would have provided a fillip to their performances? Both men’s outfits were from the wrong era and I really cannot image a millionaire like Hearst wearing buttoned shirt cuffs rather than flashy cufflinks. There is no director’s credit on the program and maybe this was at the root of the issues I had with the production.

Reviewed by Jan Kershaw
Rating out of 5: 3

Venue:  Star Theatre Two at Star Theatres, 145 Sir Donald Bradman Drive, Hilton
Season: 4-5 March at 7.30pm, 6 March at 11am, 7-8 March at 5pm
Duration:  55 mins
Tickets:  $24.50 Conc 19.50
Bookings:  https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-loneliest-woman-af2020

Disclaimer: Adrian Barnes is a reviewer for Glam Adelaide

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