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| Lainie Hart as Zoe in "Bombshells. |
Written by
Joanna Murray-Smith – Directed by Jordan Best
Set and
props designed by Roz Hall – Costumes designed by Jens Nordstrom
Sound Design
by Jordan Best – Lighting design by Jacob Aquilina
Choreography
for Zoe by Jenna Roberts and Lainie Hart
Choreography for Mary by Nathan Rutups and
Sally Taylor
Q Theatre,
Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, 18th – 27th July,
2024.
Performance
on July 25th reviewed by BILL STEPHENS
Originally
written by Joanna Murray-Smith as a one-woman show to showcase the virtuosity
of Australian show-biz legend, Caroline O’Connor, “Bombshells” was performed
around the country with great success by O’Connor, whose performance was filmed
and broadcast by the ABC.
A later production,
also in the one-woman format, enjoyed a successful season in the Ensemble
Theatre in Sydney starring Sharon Millerchip who had previously starred
opposite O’Conner in a national tour of the musical “Chicago”.
Jordan Best’s
idea to localise the six monologues that make up the piece and divide them
between six local actresses has resulted with a handsomely mounted,
delightfully entertaining show, which deserves a wide audience.
Each of the
monologues focuses on a different aspect of each woman’s life.
Meryl is a
housewife on the point of a nervous breakdown almost overwhelmed trying to meet
her own expectations of being the perfect wife and mother.
In a
poignant performance by Amy Kowalczuk, Meryl verbalises her thoughts while
desperately breast-feeding her infant baby, trying to cope with her demanding,
inquisitive daughter, and attempting to get the housework completed and dinner
prepared before her perfect husband arrives home from work. Her situation is almost too sad to laugh at,
but because of Murray-Smith’s razor -sharp dialogue, it is impossible not to.
Tiggy,
played by Kate Harris, is in the midst of giving a lecture about her hobby,
growing cacti. However Tiggy is having marital problems and her thoughts keep
returning to those problems while she desperately tries to keep her lecture on
track.
Mary, played
by Sally Taylor, is a student who has dreams of becoming a star of musical theatre.
She’s entered a dance competition, convinced that winning the competition will
make her a star.
Confident
she has more talent than Liza Minelli and therefore a shoe-in to win, she
demonstrates her competition piece, “Macavity’s Solo” from Cats, only to discover that her arch-rival has chosen the same
solo. In desperation she decides to choreograph a new piece to the music of “Shaft”.
Theresa,
played by Ella Buckley, is preparing for her wedding. As she dons her wedding
gown she confides her joy in finally getting the wear this gown. As her
thoughts drift towards her life after her wedding, she begins to panic at the realisation
that she knows very little about her groom, as her only reason for getting engaged
was to wear the wedding dress.
Winsome,
played by Alice Ferguson, is a well-dressed out-wardly sophisticated widow, who
at 65 decides to embark on a new hobby, reading books to blind clients. When
one of her clients requests that she reads him extracts from a racy novel,
Winsome discovers rather more joys to book-reading than she had anticipated.
The final
character in the sextet is a former chanteuse, Zoe, played by Lainie Hart (Image top of page), who
is resuming her career singing in nightclubs. Zoe has all the right moves, the
glamorous gown and polished microphone technique and the superbly arranged
repertoire which hints at darker life experiences behind the glitz, the glamour,
and the over-familiar friendliness. However, does Zoe still have that elusive
“IT”?
All six
monologues are presented in stylish individual, tightly-lit, settings. The
performers stay inside these settings for the full duration of the show. The
monologues are presented consecutively, connected by short light-shows which
hint tantalisingly at how each character has progressed following their
revelations.
“Bombshells”
is a lovely production for which careful attention has been paid to every aspect,
especially presentation and choreography.
On a
personal note I might have enjoyed it even more with an interval in the middle to
allow time to savour the individual stories.
As it is, everyone will have their
favourite story. I’d be delighted to share mine with you next time we meet in a
foyer.
Images by Photox - Canberra Photographic Services.
This review also posted in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW.
