Written by Dario Fo
Presented by Epicentre Theatre Company at
Zenith Theatre, Chatswood
Directed by Constantine and Michael Costi
Reviewed
by Catherine Hollyman
This was always going to be a difficult sell
for me given I’m not the biggest fan of slapstick theatre. For those who are
though, this is a slick production full of quick-witted dialogue,
well-choreographed ‘routines’, and laughs aplenty. The applause at the end of
the show was rapturous and rightly so.
Directors and brothers Constantine and Michael
Costi have obviously worked hard to finesse every minute detail. In some parts,
this choreography gave way to depth of performance as you could see the actors thinking
about where they were standing and had to be next, rather than being ‘in the
moment’. But in the main, the timing was spot on and the pace of the
performance kept up with the frenzy of Dario Fo’s writing which firmly falls
into the ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ category.
Like any good absurdist play, you’ll often
find yourself asking what on earth is going on. Don’t dwell on it too much
though – as quickly as things go off on a tangent, they are shaken up and fall
back down again in a surprising logical ludicrousness. This is often thanks to
the deadpan one-liners and facial expressions of the naive Constable, played by
Stephen Lloyd Coombs and definitely the standout of the evening for me.
Booking Information
Dates:Weds 27th, Thurs 28th, Fri 29th,
Sat 30th
Venue: Reginald Theatre @ Seymour Centre
