The Thunderbolt - 4 out of 5 stars
Red Phoenix Theatre Inc.
TICKETS: https://www.trybooking.com/au/event/1419911
England, 1908: the eldest member of the social climbing
Mortimer family dies and leaves no will. Things become muddier when a daughter
arrives thus sending the legal minds into a spin and at least one member of the
family to commit a major crime…
This is the story behind Arthur Wing Pinero’s The
Thunderbolt. It is a slight comedy drawn out to overblown proportions and,
in Red Phoenix’s capable hands, becomes a case of the sum of its parts being
greater than the sum of its parts. Pinero’s script is a great potshot at
Britain’s society fighting against the emergence of the independent woman at
the start of the 20th century. While undoubtedly the writing style
and length was, most likely, highly appropriate for the time, this now – even
after judicious cutting – feels like a play with too much filler. Too many
scenes draw out with repetition and largely unnecessary exposition.
This, however, is not the fault of Red Phoenix and its
co-founder and director Libby Drake, who has assembled a strong cast (as they always do), created a versatile
set on the Goodwood Institute stage and filled it with gorgeous costumes and
performances that almost make this play break free of the shackles of its
source material.
Drake directs the show with flair, and she clearly
understands the needs for pacing and excellent blocking. The characters move
about with purpose and never upstage one another. Scene changes, while being a
little jarring, are about as quick as can be (although it would have been
good to see the crew dressed in some kind of costume).
It is the performances that make this production worth the
effort. Michael Eustice is outstanding as James Mortimore, with his imposing
presence bringing to life the largely vulgar senior Mortimer.
Steve Marvanek pulls off an excellent characterization of
the weaker Mortimer, Stephen. His bumbling and fussing is never over-egged and
always compliments the energy given by Eustice’s more outspoken and extroverted
character.
Annie Matsouliadis, as sole Mortimer sister Rose, absolutely
nails her brief in presenting Rose as the one most desperate to keep up
appearances. There is a certain amount of exasperated energy that she exudes
whether she is speaking or not.
Leighton Vogt is wonderfully overwrought as youngest
Mortimer, Thaddeus. With a voice that channels the actor Jared Harris and a
similar presence, he steals the show with his impassioned speeches in the
second half the show. As one of the few characters with any sense of moral
decency, Vogt is determined in his approach to his character to show that
sometimes you must do what is right and not what is best for you.
To that end, he is more than ably matched with Jessica
Corrie as his wife, Phyllis. Anyone that has seen Corrie’s excellent body of
work over the past two years (and I have been fortunate to share a stage
with her and witnessed it up close) will know that she is one of the most
exciting young actors in Adelaide today. Her character sits onstage for nearly
twenty minutes without saying a word, yet she never breaks character for one
second. When Phyllis finally gets to say her piece, Corrie ramps it up to
another level. Her long speech at the end of Act One is a masterclass in
presentation.
Anne Doherty and Katie Packer play Ann and Louisa Mortimer-
wives of James and Stephen respectively. Both ladies understand the importance
of presence and, similar to Corrie, sit for long passages in the play without
uttering a word. Doherty almost manages a mic drop moment towards the end with
a few words, and Packer displays her excellent comedy chops by utilizing her
facial expressions and limited dialogue to their fullest potential.
Joshua Colwell – another one of Adelaide’s exceptionally
gifted performers – turns in a gruff, and at times, unhinged performance as
Colonel Ponting, husband of Rose. His brash military manner goes against the
grain of the more pompous Mortimers well.
Elisha Johnson as Helen, the daughter of the deceased
Mortimer, makes a decent job of her role. Carrying herself well, she makes what
could have been a fairly shallow role one of with some depth. Occasional lapses
in projection are undoubtedly going to improve over the season and, indeed,
further into her career.
Rounding out the main cast are Jai Pearce as the young
lawyer Vallance and theatre stalwart Malcolm Walton as the elder lawyer Elkin.
Pearce brings a calm and reserved approach to his fussy character and always
maintains that cool façade needed to keep the emotions of the others from
boiling over. Walton struggles at times with the lengthy speeches and heavy
legalese of his own character (as most actors would!) but still managed
to be a commanding presence when needed. His second half was particularly
strong as he guided the investigation into the whereabouts of the deceased’s
will.
Supporting cast Akira Hockley Miric (in the dual roles of
Heath and Trist) and Tim Williams (a brief cameo as Denyer) round
out this cast nicely, making the most of their limited time onstage.
Costuming by Sharon Malujio is generally excellent and in
keeping with the times – matching the couples in the same colours certainly
helps people remember who is married to who. Richard Parkhill does another
outstanding effort with his unobtrusive lighting and Ray Trowbridge’s sound
design (mostly involving curating an excellent and appropriate songlist for
the pre- and post-show music plus intermission and scene change music) is
also worth mentioning.
While the play itself is bloated in a few places and
occasional lapses in dialogue and timing disrupt the flow, this is still a
strong production that Red Phoenix should be proud of. The calibre of the cast
and the precision of the direction give this material a worthy airing.
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