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Scarlett O'Hara at the Crimson Parrot | MTC |
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Written by Carol Middleton
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Thursday, 12 June 2008 |
 Photos - Jeff Busby
 Slideshow
David
Williamson is back!
After announcing his retirement a few years ago, the Australian playwright has
made a comeback with a ‘romcom’, a light-hearted play written to showcase the
comedic talents of Caroline O’Connor premiering with the Melbourne Theatre Company. O’Connor’s other talents – dancing and
singing - are not used, except for some onscreen singing ‘in her dreams’. She
and director Simon Phillips had some input into the script, providing feedback for Williamson as the play developed.
The play
revolves around O’Connor’s character Scarlett, a 36-year-old waitress who lives with her mother,
has no boyfriend, and who compensates during her time off by watching old
romantic movies and in her working hours by rerunning them in her head. Her
accomplice in this is Gordon (a colourful Bob Hornery), the gay kitchen hand in the
restaurant kitchen: they often converse by means of tag lines from movies,
which the other then has to identify. The plot for Scarlett O’Hara at the
Crimson Parrot was
inspired by Williamson’s father’s favourite film The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty, starring Danny Kaye.
The action onstage is cut with old movies shown on a
huge screen at the back of the stage. As Scarlett drifts deeper into her
reveries of Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart, she takes
her place as the heroine of their movies. These film sequences are wonderfully
entertaining and drew laughs and cries of recognition from the audience, who
also loved the trademark Williamson one-liners.
Most of these are politically incorrect, which is refreshing, but not so
appealing if you are sensitive about being middle-aged, overweight, gay or
mentally ill. The opening scene between Scarlett and her mother (Monica
Maughan) does lose its comic effect by being corny and in bad
taste.
O’Connor takes the ‘loser’ character of
Scarlett and makes it a tour de force. Physically her Scarlett is a slumped
creature with a drawling colourless voice, but the contained way in which O’Connor keeps in character is magnetic to
watch and keeps the audience onside. Her slapstick is faultless and her drunk
scenes outrageous. Her impersonations of other leading ladies in the filmed
sequences hit the right note between imitation and exaggeration.
The other
kitchen staff - chefs Steve (Andrew McFarlane) and Gary (Simon Wood) and waitress Shelley (Marney
McQueen) - provide
an authentic restaurant setting complete with ribald humour, stereotypical
characters and endless chopping of vegetables. The pace is fast and the sight
gags and one-liners keep coming. Shaun Gurton’s set is impressive: a gleaming
stainless steel fully-functioning kitchen that slides noiselessly to one side
or the other to accommodate a section of the restaurant or Scarlett’s lounge
room.
Any classic
movie buffs will relish the screening of so many favourite cinematic moments
from such favourite as Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, From Here to Eternity, Tarzan and his Mate and The Wizard of Oz. These clips are integrated into
the onstage drama for maximum comic effect and the theme is nicely maintained
at the interval and the end of the production by the banners and voiceovers.
They make it clear that the plot is predictable and not to be taken seriously.
Williamson is not tackling world issues this time, although the environment
does get a look in, but his voice is recognisable in the social satire and the
flavour of the current Aussie vernacular.
The play
had an enthusiastic reception and the cast beamed as they took several bows. It
was good entertainment made memorable by O’Connor’s masterful presence, but could not
compare with some screen versions using the same fantasy theme, notably Dennis
Potter’s television
series such as Pennies from Heaven. It is a theme more commonly used on the screen, but this
stage production allows for more pratfalls and split-second timing than could
be used in the cinema these days. Charlie Chaplin will never be replicated on the
screen, but O’Connor’s Scarlett brings back other cinematic moments - of Chaplin’s beloved tramp.
Melbourne Theatre Company presents
SCARLETT O’HARA AT THE CRIMSON PARROT
by David Williamson
Venue: Arts Centre Playhouse
Dates: Wednesday 11 June - 12 July 2008
Times: Mon & Tue 6.30pm (9 & 10 Jun 8pm), Wed 1pm &
8pm (no mat 11 Jun), Thu & Fri 8pm, Sat 4pm & 8.30pm (7 Jun 2
& 8pm)
Tickets: $16 - $75.30
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 723 038 or www.mtc.com.au
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