Musical theatre / “Pygmalion”, Belconnen Community Theatre until June 4. Reviewed by HELEN MUSA.
AS an enthusiastic matinee audience applauded the Tempo Theatre cast of “Pygmalion” today (May 30), I was aware of the great strengths of community theatre.
A production like this of a complex script by George Bernard Shaw places great demands on its actors and backstage people, but can be greatly rewarding.
The production itself was a mixed bag, with a chaotic opening, an uneven cast, and a sheet of wallpaper peeling from the otherwise handsome set before our eyes.
The famous opening scene outdoors at Covent Garden saw characters almost running into each other, the dialogue quite inaudible, the sound too high and, inexplicably, only a tiny portion of the stage used so that the coming “reveal” of the drawing room would not be spoilt.
It was a unpromising start, but things picked up as soon as director Rachel Hogan moved her cast into the more intimate scenes interior scenes.
Here the main characters of Eliza Dolittle, Kershaw Pickering and Henry Higgins interacted with full force.
Adam Salter as Henry Higgins, turned a sometimes-elegant part into an example of boorish if witty male aggression, a credible interpretation that gave Meaghan Stewart as Eliza the capacity to develop into her own woman as the script demands.
Stewart’s focus and energy as she transitions from the Cockney flower-seller to an elegant lady was transfixing, although I felt at times she could have eased off in intensity. Less is more.
Thomas Cullen as Pickering proved a worthy stage companion to Higgins and Eliza, although he seemed rather young for the part.
By contrast, Joan White’s gentle portrait of Mrs Pearce the housekeeper provided the perfect balance to the masculine posturing of her employer.
The sophisticated performance of Mrs Higgins by Elaine Noon, one of her very best, was full of irony, wisdom and elegance, providing much-needed humanity.
Rounding off the strong central performances, Peter Fock stole the show as Alfred Dolittle, variously rejoicing in his role as a member of the “undeserving poor” classes and lamenting his sudden transition into the life of “middle-class morality.” Here you could hear Shaw preaching, but no matter, Foch carried it off unapologetically.
Hogan steered the play towards its ambiguous ending of the play providing, in the end, an intelligent afternoon of theatre.
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