Kris Weber's World of Theatre

LONDON SUITE
by Neil Simon
Essendon Theatre Company
Directed by Kris Weber
Reviewed by Nicky McFarlane for Theatrecraft
10 September 2004

On the coldest, wettest, windiest night of the year my companion and I made our way to the Community Centre in Bradshaw St. where we we received a warm welcome and were seated at one of several tables with our nibbles and drinks.

The London Suite, Number 402, where four stories unfold takes up the entire width of a huge stage, featuring teal blue walls with silver trim, divided into bedroom and sitting room, with a glimpse of a bathroom upstage, one tall window down left and an attractive view of city buildings in black and white.

Scene One: Settling Accounts opens with Billie, clutching a briefcase to his chest, cowering in a corner of the sofa where he stays for most of the action, with Brian holding a gun to his head. The briefcase contains Brian's entire portfolio of funds and a one way ticket to Buenos Aires. By the end of the scene Brian has retrieved some of his funds and learned one very important lesson never trust your financial manager, and always ask all the hard questions if you do not want to be ripped off. Billie on the other hand is a cowed bankrupt.

Xavier Ryan as Billie portrays sustained terror very well, body language and facial expressions excellent. His ingratiating looks as he spins ever more improbable stories while digging himself into an ever-deepening hole reminded me of Mickey Mouse trying to explain himself to the Sorcerer.

Jim Thomson's Brian starts out quiet and reasonable, becoming more menacing as time goes on. Free to move about, he did appear to be making moves purely for the sake of moving, as if the director had said - we can't have both of you in one spot all night. Well, why not, if that is what the situation calls for?

Scene Two: Going Home. American mother and daughter, Jeanne Snider as Mrs. Semple and Caroline Cusack as Lauren, are visiting London to shop. Lauren has set up a a date for her widowed mother with a man they had met on the plane from New York. It turns out to be a total disaster as the man, never seen, turns out to be painfully shy, nervous and racked with an assortment of allergies. Jeanne Snider's description of their unfortunate evening is a classic laugh a minute.

The lesson here is that the women come to understand each other better, Lauren decides not to interfere in her mother's life, and Mrs. Semple realises that she needs to get on with said life. The women worked well together, with a comfortable relationship. Nicely done.

Scene Three: Diana and Sidney brings back characters from California Suite. Diana, Louise Anthony, is a TV sitcom star and Sidney, Peter Prenga, is her ex-husband, who left her some years back for his boy friend. Diana is in London to promote her show and Sidney has arrived from his Greek Island home to meet her on neutral ground. It is obvious that she still loves him and needs his approval. He , on the other hand, needs money.

At first he tells her that it is for his partner who is sick, but it becomes clear that it is he who is sick. Diana gets fired up, angry that he has not felt able to ask her for help sooner, and springs into action, organizing to get both men back to the States for treatment. The writing of this scene 1 found a touch sentimental, but the actors handled it very well, giving us believable characters. Sharon Monaghan as Diana's personal assistant was delightful.

Scene Four: The Man on the Floor is slapstick farce, and the only scene which actually uses the enormous bedroom, albeit only briefly. It is also the only one in which everyone shouts, roars, yells and screams at the top of their voices the whole time. Mark, played by. Xavier Ryan, is on the floor because he has put his back out getting overexcited hunting for his missing Wimbledon tickets. His wife has gone down to the restaurant to get away from his tantrums, and Mark, in agony, has to struggle to the phone to call for help.

Mrs. Sitgood, from the manager's office, Sharon Monaghan, arrives to inform him that he has to vacate the suite for a film star, and also gets the hotel doctor, Peter Prenga, and a security man, Jim Thomson, to help find the missing tickets. She adds to the mayhem by tripping over and leaning on the unfortunate casualty. The doctor is most unsympathetic and things go from bad to worse, with the doctor putting his back out and the security man knocking himself out with the bedroom door. But, lo and behold, the missing tickets are found!

It earned plenty of laughs, but was exhausting for the audience, and I'm sure, for the cast as well. Good work by everyone.