Written by Kurt
Vonnegut
Directed by Cate
Clelland
Canberra REP at
Theatre 3 to 4 August.
Reviewed by Len Power
20 July 2018
Kurt Vonnegut wrote 14 novels and five plays, but he is best
remembered for his novel ‘Slaughterhouse 5’, which also became a memorable
film. ‘Happy Birthday, Wanda June’ had a
short run on Broadway in 1970 and I must be one of the very few people who suffered
through the now disappeared 1971 movie of it.
Very much a product of its time, the play is a wacky rant
about masculinity with all the things that are wrong with human nature and
society thrown in as well. You can
probably find some relevance in it – nothing really changes – but it doesn’t
alter the fact that the play’s a dud and by the end of the first act, it has
said all it has to say.
Director, Cate Clelland, has given it a sumptuous production
with a highly detailed and amusing period set and Helen Wotjas has had a lot of
fun designing the hideous 1970s costumes.
 |
| Rowan McMurray, Jess Waterhouse and Peter Holland |
In the 1970 movie, ‘Myra Breckenridge’ the action is
intercut with clips from old movies to comment on the action or just for the
hell of it. Clelland uses the same idea
in this production with snippets of period music while the cast freezes. It was amusing initially but the frequent
interruptions to the flow of the play started to pall very quickly and the pace
overall was too slow, anyway.
 |
| David Bennett and Michael Sparks |
Performances by the cast were uneven. The usually reliable Michael Sparks and Peter
Holland started out well but needed more help from the director to give their
increasingly boring characters more light and shade in the second half. David Bennett was very effective as Colonel
Looseleaf Harper, adding a human warmth and sadness to a basically crazy
military man. Jess Waterhouse and Nick
Dyball were fine as mother and son and there was good support from the other
actors.
The most interesting thing about ‘Happy Birthday, Wanda
June’ is what motivated Canberra REP to stage it.
This review was first
published in the Canberra City News digital edition of 21 July 2018.
Len Power’s reviews
are also broadcast in his ‘On Stage’ performing arts radio program on Mondays
and Wednesdays from 3.30pm on Artsound FM 92.7.
