Adapted and developed
by David Ross Paterson from a play by Peter B. Sonenstein
Directed by Peter
Houghton
Boxing Day Productions
Q Theatre, Queanbeyan
to 5 September 2015
Review by Len Power 4
September 2015
In ‘Reserved Seating Only’, you know where it’s going as
soon as it starts but the fun is in seeing how it gets there. Two unlikely spectators sit next to each
other at a Melbourne football match. He is
a rabid footy fan who has probably never missed a game in his life while she is
attending her first match using the ticket she got in a divorce settlement from
her husband. Her total lack of knowledge
and interest in the game mystifies and annoys him and his macho Aussie
behaviour is a total turn-off for her.
It’s just what you need for a good romantic comedy.
Husband and wife actors, David Ross Paterson and Cecelia
Specht, play the spectators very well. The
characters are close to caricature but both actors add considerable depth to
the people they’re playing, especially in the body language they display. We sure can identify with them!
Director, Peter Houghton, has produced a tight, well-paced
production which plays for exactly an hour without interval. He’s made sure that all the humour in the script
is up there on the stage but he doesn’t allow it to fall over into cliché. The interaction with audience members as the play
commenced and especially during the half-time of the football match was
especially well-done and very funny. There
were also some very well-timed belly laughs in the show. You’ll probably never look at an Aussie meat
pie in quite the same way again.
The simple set and clever lighting plot added to the atmosphere
of the show as did Patrick Sarell’s original score.
It’s always a bit of a shock to see ourselves as others see
us but that’s the fun in seeing an Australian play like this. ‘Reserved Seating Only’ is light and amusing,
but also thought-provoking entertainment.
Who needs to go to the footy?
Len Power’s reviews
are also broadcast in the ‘Artcetera’ program on Artsound FM 92.7 on Saturdays
from 9am.
