Melbourne Theatre Company
MTC
Sumner Theatre, Nov 1 to Dec 8, 2012
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars:***1/2
Published in Herald Sun online Fri Nov 2,2012, and in print on Mon Nov 5, 2012
Published in Herald Sun online Fri Nov 2,2012, and in print on Mon Nov 5, 2012
Hayden Spencer & Darren Gilshenan
IN SIMON BENT'S DARK COMEDY, based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen’s novel,
Elling (Darren Gilshenan) and Kjell Bjarne (Hayden Spencer) are the Norwegian
Odd Couple, compelled by the welfare system to co-habit, despite their apparent
incompatibility and social dysfunction.
These two are klutzy clowns, but the first part of the
play is too distressing to be funny as these two misfits are hurled out of
their safe institution into an Oslo flat where, with minimal support and
training, they must fend for themselves.
As they become functional and inured to the dangers of
the world, their foibles become comical and we can laugh as they struggle to
find their place amongst ‘normal’ people.
As Elling, Darren Gilshenan impeccably balances comedy
and tragedy, inhabiting this pernickety, selfish, emotionally stifled, mentally
rigid and socially incapacitated mummy’s boy who lived with his mother until
she died when he was 40.
Elling, a fantasist with a poet’s mind, speaks in
metaphors and fabricates stories to entertain his friend, Kjell Bjarne, and his
condition is a conglomerate of Asberger’s, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,
social anxiety and agoraphobia.
Hayden Spencer is loveable as Elling’s polar opposite,
the childlike Kjell Bjarne, a scruffy, huggable, bear-like man with minimal
impulse control and an unwillingness to wear trousers or wash his underwear.
Although the pace in the first 45 minutes feels unbalanced, Pamela Rabe’s production really takes off when the friends celebrate Christmas, dabble their toes in the world, visit a café, make telephone calls and, finally, make more friends.
Bert LaBonté is cool and confrontational as Frank Åsli,
the seemingly unsympathetic social worker, while Ronald Falk is dignified and
compelling as the elderly poet, Alfons Jørgenson.
Emily Goddard finds her feet late in the production as
Reidun, Kjell’s love interest, the ditzy, pregnant upstairs neighbour, but she
looks awkward and miscast in the earlier multiple roles.
Christina Smith’s giant
doll’s house, bathed in Matt Scott’s atmospheric lighting, cunningly echoes the
breaking down of the walls that both protect and imprison Elling and Kjell.
If you are close to someone with a mental illness,
this show could be a challenge, but rest assured that this odd couple survives
and thrives and make us laugh in their chaotic journey to fulfillment.
LONG
In Simon Bent’s grim comedy, based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen’s novel,
Elling (Darren Gilshenan) and Kjell Bjarne (Hayden Spencer) are the Norwegian
Odd Couple, compelled by the welfare system to co-habit, despite their apparent
incompatibility and social dysfunction.
These two are klutzy clowns, but the first part of the
play is too distressing to be funny as these two misfits are hurled out of
their safe institution and into a flat in the Oslo, where, with minimal support
and training, they must fend for themselves.
But, as they become functional and inured to the
dangers of the wide world, their foibles become comical and we can laugh with
them as they struggle to find their place amongst ‘normal’ people.
Darren Gilshenan as Elling, impeccably balances comedy
and tragedy, inhabiting this pernickety, selfish, emotionally stifled, mentally
rigid and socially incapacitated mummy’s boy who lived with his mother until
she died when he was 40.
Elling is a fantasist who has the mind of a poet,
speaks in metaphors and fabricates stories to entertain himself and his friend,
Kjell Bjarne, and his condition is a conglomerate of Asberger’s,
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, social anxiety and agoraphobia.
Hayden Spencer is loveable as Elling’s polar opposite,
the childlike Kjell Bjarne, a scruffy, huggable, bear-like man with minimal
impulse control and an unwillingness to wear trousers or wash his underwear –
we can almost smell the body odour.
Although the pace in the first 45 minutes feels
unbalanced, Pamela Rabe’s production really takes off when the friends celebrate
Christmas, dabble their toes in the world, visit a café, make telephone calls
and, finally, make more friends.
Bert LaBonté is cool and confrontational as Frank Åsli,
the seemingly unsympathetic social worker, while Ronald Falk is dignified and
compelling as the elderly poet, Alfons Jørgenson.
Emily Goddard finds her feet late in the production as
Reidun, Kjell’s love interest, the ditzy, pregnant upstairs neighbour, but she
looks awkward and miscast in the earlier multiple roles.
Christina Smith’s giant
doll’s house, bathed in Matt Scott’s atmospheric lighting, cunningly echoes the
breaking down of the walls that both protect and imprison Elling and Kjell.
If you are close to someone with a mental illness,
this show could be a challenge, but rest assured that this odd couple survives
and thrives and make us laugh in their chaotic journey to fulfillment.
By Kate Herbert
Cast
Darren Gilshenan
(Elling)
Hayden Spencer
(Kjell Bjarne
Bert LaBonté
(Frank Åsli/Poet)
Ronald Falk
(Alfons Jørgenson)
Emily Goddard
(Reidun Nordsletten/Gunn/Johanne Poet)
Creative Team
Director, Pamela Rabe
Lighting, Matt Scott
Lighting, Matt Scott
Design, Christina Smith
Sound Design, David Franzke
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