Wrong Turn at Lungfish - Spoiler Free Review

4.5 stars out of 5 stars

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE: https://marion.online.red61.com.au/event/318:771/

Performances until Saturday 10th May

What better way to experience community theatre on a crisp Friday evening than at the Domain Theatre, discovering Galleon Theatre Group’s latest production, Wrong Turn at Lungfish. A powerful cast of 4 have come together to present a 2-Act drama written by Garry Marshall & Lowell Ganz, taking the audience on an emotional roller coaster for a couple of hours. While this production can easily be described as a 2-hander with an additional 2 minor characters, each actor was equal in their character development and their knowledge and understanding of the text, story and their character arc.

Wrong Turn at Lungfish is the story of Peter Ravenswaal, a blind, bitter and widowed college professor, and his encounter with Anita, a saucy, street wise young woman who volunteers to read to him in the hospital. He's a widower facing death alone, she's the mistreated lover of a low-rent mob enforcer named Dominic. By the end of the play, the clash of intellect and wit takes the two from animosity and fear to friendship and understanding.

This is the second time Rosie Aust has donned the director's hat for this play, the first being with St. Judes in 2014. The hard work she has put into bringing each of these characters to life by nurturing and moulding the actors into the roles is noteworthy. When majority of every scene is two actors talking, and moving back and forth across the stage, it takes a magic touch to keep the audience engaged. While partial credit goes to Marshall and Ganz for the text they have provided, credit also needs to be afforded to the director and her creative team.

Peter Ravenswall’s student nurse is portrayed brilliantly by Tianna Cooper. Despite questioning her desire to be a nurse, the character develops an estranged-esque familial bond with Ravenswall, being the only nurse that will care and tend to his needs. As a minor character, there is limited text, limited discovery of character traits and limited opportunities to provide an equal impression on the audience, but Cooper excelled in taking advantage of every chance she was provided, from the bitchy nurse to the party animal!

Wade Cook has appeared in numerous musical theatre productions, but this is his first straight play, portraying antagonist Dominic De Caesar, and he did so with gusto, providing the audience with just enough disgust to make us want our widowed college professor to beat him a little harder with his walking stick. There is a small moment where Cook is provided the opportunity to show a softer side to his character, discussing opera with Peter, before whipping back into his bad-boy persona, and it shone a spotlight on Cook’s acting ability, hitting all the right moments. Waiting until the second act to discover the mysterious Dominic was an interesting choice by the authors and limited the chances Cook had to show his skillset to the audience.

Dora Stamos returns for a third production with Galleon, taking on the role of Anita Merendino – a character who visits the blind elderly to read books to them, but soon develops an interesting and complicated relationship with Peter Ravenswall. Being one half of the two-hander provided a lot of text-driven behaviour that Stamos bested, and has the audience rooting for her, even after the climactic betrayal in the final scene. There are many character and relationship traits between Stamos and Cook that toys with the idea of an Italian Audrey and Orin from Little Shop of Horrors. Nonetheless, their relationship while toxic to no end, was blocked and workshopped well.

Tony Busch reprises his role as Peter Ravenswall, last performed with St. Jude’s in their 2014 production. Though I didn’t see that show, I’m confident those audiences would have enjoyed his performance as much as we do now. He handled the complexities of his character with compassion and confidence. There is an array of emotions this character needs to journey through to keep the audience on side, despite the risk of alienation by being too intelligent for his own good, and Busch was exceptional in taking on all of this and meeting expectations. I can appreciate the need to “act” blind for 2 hours, and the exhausting mentality this comes with, and so I commend Bush’s performance further in keeping this pretence for most of his performance.

The story is solely set in a hospital room, allowing a box set to be constructed around the action, with a toilet room to one side, and the hallway on the other side. As the curtain opens for the beginning of Act One, we are taken back to an 80’s sitcom set, reminiscent of the author’s more famous works Happy Days, or Mork and Mindy, with the chosen green, the oil heaters, the window blinds and other dated props and finishings. Upon researching this play, the time suggests Present Day on the licensing website, so I respect the designers’ vision to use an alternative time period, because it worked. Also noteworthy is the lighting in the final moments of the final scene… I’m not saying anything more about it, but to witness the magic in these moments, you’ll need to check out the play. 

Being based in New York, the thick accent is expected, and through majority of the play, it's evident and strong, however there were a few small moments where the odd line slipped back into our natural Australian accent. Opening Night comes with a couple of natural hiccups, which are usually ironed out quite quickly, and hopefully this happens with the awkward long pause in the scene change between scene 2 and 3… but when these are the only criticisms I think to mention, Galleon Theatre Group should be immensely proud they have produced an almost perfect production. I can understand why they are regular award winners.