A Promenade of Shorts: Season 3 - 9 out of 10
Red Phoenix Theatre Inc
Tickets: A Promenade of Shorts: Season 3
Have you ever been to, or hosted, a progressive dinner? The
concept is simple – three courses, three venues, and a wonderful evening among
friends. Now take that design and apply it to a short play festival – three
performance spaces, three audiences, and nine shows in one spectacular evening!
This is the concept Red Phoenix Theatre has successfully produced for a third
season in six years.
Presenting A Promenade of Shorts: Season 3 at the Goodwood
Theatre has allowed them to not only use the Main Theatre and Studio but also
transform the Bar area into a stage fully encircled by the audience. Each
performance space presents three 10-minute-ish plays that were carefully
selected by the Red Phoenix Theatre team, then rehearsed and executed
spectacularly to a sold-out opening night audience.
A team of four directors (Norm Caddick, Alicia Zorkovic,
Hayley Horton, and Libby Drake) presented these nine works in ways that
ensured the pace flowed well and the audience remained captivated. There were
moments where silence filled the awkwardness, which only elevated the payoff.
Many small moments across numerous plays required audience attentiveness to
ensure each final punchline paid off.
The Main Theatre featured In Farce by Steven Bucko,
Chilled Wine by Dorothy Lambert, and Go to the Light by Laurie Allen
— a pleasant half hour balancing farcical brilliance, outrageous gossip that
comes full circle, and a family equally obsessed with their social presence on
Facebook. The highlight within this half hour was the over-the-top characters
in In Farce. A tight cast of five (Jo Coventry, Matt Chapman, Adam Tuominen,
Anita Chamberlain-Canala, and Krystal Cave), along with impeccable timing
and the repetitive door-closing sound effects, earned plenty of laughs from the
audience.
The Bar theatre space opened up both the possibilities and
challenges of theatre-in-the-round, with mixed results. The three productions
presented here — Bottle for a Special Occasion by William Kovacsik, On
Queue by Morey Norkin, and Choices by James McLindon — offered
three very different stories. Each was a two-hander, allowing for some
outstanding performances and meaningful storytelling. Stuart Pearce’s portrayal
of Martin in Bottle for a Special Occasion was a highlight of this set, playing
opposite Lyn Wilson as the elderly lady searching for a bottle of wine to bury
with her late husband.
The meta-theatrical humour of On Queue, starring Jack Robins
and Jethro Pidd, was well played and warmly received by the audience. Special
mention must go to Rebecca Kemp and Laura Lines in Choices, who ensured much of
the audience had a clear view of at least one performer at all times — no easy
feat in the round! Even though there are moments in the other plays that leave
parts of the audience viewing the actors’ backs for a nominal amount of time,
each of these three plays cleverly reused the same crates as different props,
keeping set changes minimal.
Inside the Studio, a black box theatre space, audiences were
treated to two comical pieces that stood out in post-show audience conversation,
along with one touching work that deserves equal recognition. Road Trip by
Jan Probst boasted a great cast of six. Main character Allen (Lindsay
Dunn) has meticulously planned a road trip across America, complete with
living-room rehearsals alongside his wife Mary (Joanne St Clair). As
family members drop in, each wants a part in the trip — leading to a
delightfully funny ending.
In addition to Dunn and St Clair, cast members Katie Packer,
John Rosen, Jai Pearce, and Charlie Butler seamlessly transitioned into the
stage crew, setting the scenes for the following plays in a playful, well-paced
style. They were never left in darkness or rushed offstage — and rightfully
received their own round of applause for their craftsmanship.
The second play in the Studio was a two-hander, When I Fall
in Love It Will Be… by Susan Middaugh, featuring Lisa Lanzi and Adrian
Barnes. Following Road Trip, this piece was presented beautifully, using
silence as powerfully as dialogue. Both Lanzi and Barnes captivate the audience
from beginning to end.
Wrapping up the evening, audiences shared a ridiculous
amount of laughter for the delightfully absurd Mrs Thrale Lays On… Tea! by
Rob Taylor. Actors Sharon Malujlo, Zoe Battersby, and Michael Eustice
deliver insightful performances, conveying their characters’ stories with
minimal vocabulary, despite the crazy amount of dialogue — a wonderful way to
close the night.
Each audience group had a “Tour Guide” to ensure everyone knew where to go, received their goodies, and maintained the fun throughout. Our tour guide, “the Tea Lady” (Anne Doherty), came equipped with her own secret stash of Nice biscuits — lucky us! Doherty made sure everyone was seated and no one was left behind, as any good guide would. I can only imagine the equally hard work of Kate Prescott and Olivia Jane Parker as the other two tour guides were just as appreciated.
Across the 9 productions, the Lighting and Sound design and operation was handled well by a small team of Sean Smith, Richard Parkhill, Will Gee. There were no blemishes within any of the mixes, providing seamless flows across performances. Equally, the set changes for each new play were executed by the cast and crew of each performance space with speed and precision – or in the case of The Studio, with brilliant padded out comedy, led by Lindsay Dunn.
What began as a COVID-era solution for financially viable
theatre has evolved into an unmissable evening of creativity and community. If
not this season, then be sure to catch A Promenade of Shorts: Season 4 next
time around.
- Andrew Broadbent
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