Presented by Popjam Productions
Reviewed 1 August 2015
Girl power is what it’s all about in Amity Dry’s peek into the lives of four women in various scenarios of love, marriage and motherhood.
Bridezilla, Jess (Rachel McCall) is newly in love and full of self-confidence. Stay-at-home mum Bec (Nikki Aitken) struggles to keep her sanity and sense of self. Restaurant owner, mother and wife Lily (Susan Ferguson) battles exhaustion trying to ‘do it all’. And Kate (Amity Dry) has her perfectly planned life turned upside down by an unexpected pregnancy.
Luckily, they have each other for support, love, advice and some home truths, which are sometimes confronting and often very funny to those who can relate to stories of out-of-control children and the joys of breast feeding.
The stories will appeal mainly to those who have gone through similar experiences and the mostly female audience could be heard to mutter in agreement or give the occasional cheer.
The calibre of performance is universally excellent. These four women give it their all on stage. They create energy, humour, sadness and joy with gorgeous voices blending in glorious harmonies between bursts of honest emotion. Mark Simeon Ferguson’s music and arrangements are intricate and challenging and let the voices shine in some very interesting harmonies and counter melodies.
Dry has a likeable persona and a lovely voice with an appealing country edge; Aitken is a joyful performer with a huge vocal range; McCall tackles some difficult soprano parts with gusto and is a natural comedienne and Ferguson’s warm alto is a sheer delight in an understated yet powerful interpretation of her character.
The set is very clever and cute, with a really interesting lighting design and the cast manage to manipulate it successfully to change scenes with a minimum of fuss or distraction while still delivering excellent performances under the direction of David Lampard.
Each performer’s style is a little different, from the very natural to the more theatrical, which jars slightly, and this is a subject matter that may not have universal appeal, but this show has an honest charm and some wonderful singing and I loved it.
Reviewed by Sue Oldknow
Venue: Hopgood Theatre, Noarlunga Centre
Season: Travelling then returning to Adelaide. 2-11 October at Star Theatres
Duration: 150 minutes with a 20 minute interval
For details: www.motherwifemusical.com
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