GIrl Talk by Patrick Edgeworth
Hit Productions at Merlyn Theatre until
November 17, 2000
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Theatre comes to us in many forms for many different kind of audiences.
Girl Talk is a commercial and light-hearted play that will appeal to a wide
audience who are not interested in high art, obscure themes or depressing
issues on stage.
Playwright, Patrick Edgeworth, writes for film and television as well
having written the hit West End play, Boswell for the Defence, which starred
Leo McKern. Girl Talk opened in the UK in 1995.
The style and plot of Girl Talk are related to television comedy-dramas
or even to sit-coms. The story deals with serious issues such as grief,
abandonment and divorce, in a superficial but entertaining way.
It is directed with finesse by David Latham who keep the pace swift and
funny. The design by Judith Cobb is a large square living room with an ornate
rose window as its rear wall.
The Merlyn is perhaps too big for the play but the two actors are able
to draw us toward them.
Performances by Jackie Weaver and Christen O'Leary , are bright and funny.
Their relationship on stage is warm and they represent two very different types
of single mothers in the suburbs.
Julie (Weaver ) emigrated to Australia from the north of England 23
years ago with her new husband, Brian. Now in her 40s, she finds herself
abandoned when Brian runs off with a 25 year old, leaving her with two
teenagers.
Gail (O'Leary) is younger and profoundly unhappy in her singledom. She
chooses inappropriate men to fill her lonely days and nights: a married
handyman and a young shelf-stacker at
the supermarket, to name two.
The story is a suburban fantasy. When middle aged women who spent their
lives bearing children, caring for family and pandering to husbands are left
alone, they generally suffer profound grief and loss. This story sees Julie
whip through her pain with a few gentle tears.
She finds a new lover who is the perfect man, confidently sends her Pam
Ayres-style poems to publishers and becomes a sexual athlete overnight. Pure
fantasy, but very cheering to audiences who fear the end of plodding
relationships.
This play by Hit Productions, is touring the country during 2000-2001
and should be a great success with the crowds.
By Kate Herbert
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