I must say I didn’t expect much as I wandered through the Terminus Hotel in Abbotsford trying to find what I knew wouldn’t be a theatre.
What a perfect venue for a play about blokes, one of the last “real” pubs left in Melbourne.
Trying to make head and tale of the program I knew then that they were going to make me think and not just sit back and be entertained. Actually the play with its audiovisual scene entree's and the program itself are integral, you do need to concentrate initially and…. I liked it!! It was fun.
To enter the auditorium you walk across the stage with your beer and descend into what appears to be a theatrette complete with lighting and sound! The set is dressed with some semi live bamboo and a TV in the corner. Some cool jazz sets the tone with some subdued lighting which is just enough to peruse the program whilst you make yourself comfortable on a couch of your choice. Some might say the program needs a synopsis, but this is not really a story more of a documentary about three types or species of men. Explaining too much about the play means I’d probably spoil a bit of the fun so I won’t.
Craig Higgins played the macho house bound out of work father “Braidyn”, forced into being the “house husband”. There was no doubting the integrity of his portrayal as I sympathized with a lot of his dilemmas as he struggled to understand the enthusiasm of other men in his predicament.
Daniel Madrigali in the role of "Richmond”, was alternatively, an enthusiastic house husband and equally believable, managing to show an incredulence to Craig Higgins’ "Braidyn” who resented the opportunity of nurturing his child.
Allan Kerr enters the stage and you wonder what is going on, dressed as a panda, he tries to solicit a cigarette from the audience and bribe the critic with a free lager (thanks Allan). Allan is the writer of this script and he played this role of the arrogant panda with a passion. I sensed maybe some autobiographical content in his dialogue as he proceded to opinionate about women, I daren’t say I agreed with anything he was suggesting.
A play about blokes wouldn’t be complete without a good looking bird, so enter Kate Shearman as “Cynthia”. She is accomplished in her role as the career woman married to “Richmond”.
Craig, Kate and Daniel play alternating roles throughout as western suburb “bogans”. Although Daniel and Kate were not quite as comfortable in these parts, there was never any cringe factor. All the actors according to the program are highly qualified and I think that shows. I would like to see this play lengthened a bit with some more “species” perhaps and maybe also some linking in places, but that is only my opinion.
This is a very short play, so not an evening out in itself but more of a “dinner and a show” night out with drinks after. It is a show about men, but for men and women to enjoy, showing what we men already know and what women probably know too. What a shame, with a hotel full of patrons, that more of them can’t be enticed upstairs for an hour or so.