Photos – Chris LundieAll men are mongrels, albeit ultimately loveable mutts, seems to be the message of Summer Rain, the Australian musical that has garnered something of a classic status since its origins, thirty years ago, as a commissioned piece by NIDA for its third year aspirant thespians to fuel their triple threats with.
Book and lyrics by Nick Enright and music and arrangements by Terence Clarke, Summer Rain, a bit like Dinkum Assorted, is a nostalgia fondler, a look back in hanker, to a period of hope, healing old wounds, of peace and prosperity.
It’s Boxing Day, 1945, the war is over and so, seemingly, is the drought that has beleaguered the tiny town of Turnaround Creek. The Showies, like blowies, have descended on the hamlet, raising the curtain on secrets as well as a fading vaudevillian presentation.
Harold Slocum, a Flash Harry in the flesh, leads a travelling tent show comprising his wife, Ruby, daughter, Joy, and returned serviceman son, Johnny, a greatly diminished company since the glory days of their previous tour of Turnaround Creek a decade and a half ago. Back then, as now, Harry was a bit of a hound dog, horn bag mongrel, a philanderer with flies wide open for neglected wives and star struck, stuck in small town women generally.
He’s returned to the town with a vague idea to resurrecting something of the past, a return to the glory days of his youth which is as faded and threadbare as his act. What he encounters is more of an exhumation, with a deceased conquest, a bitter cuckold, and a living legacy from a long ago leg-over.
Harry’s a mongrel alright, the way he treats his supportive, long suffering spouse, Ruby. So is Barry Doyle, the Turnaround Creek publican, whose negligence of his nuptial Nancy, caused his cuckoldry and consequent widower status.
Indeed, neglect of women seems endemic in Turnaround Creek. Widowed by the war, Renie McKenna has supported Barry in his sorrow and single parenthood, only to be ignored and neglected. Peg, Barry’s eldest daughter is married to Mick, self-centred on his own war wounds to care for the emotional life of his wife. History is set to repeat as Harry’s son, Johnny, makes a play for Peg.
You Might Miss the Mongrel could well be the musical refrain of Summer Rain.
There are a number of poignant songs peppered through the production, with some reprise verging on the dirge, and a fine balance struck with songs of joy.
Send 'Er Down, Hughie, an exuberant song sung by the ensemble over the delicious anticipation of precipitation, Watch the Puddles is a rural Singing in the Rain, and Tango D'Amour and Hear the One About..? are pure theatrical confections.
Directed and choreographed by Trent Kidd, Summer Rain boasts fine ensemble work from a terrifically talented cast, a crack band under the musical directorship of Tim Cunniffe, and a gun production design by Mason Browne. It deserves a strong reign over the first few weeks of Summer.
New Theatre presents
Summer Rain
book & lyrics Nick Enright | music Terence Clarke
Director Trent Kidd
Venue: New Theatre | 542 King Street Newtown
Dates: 15 November – 17 December 2016
Tickets: $17 – $32
Bookings: newtheatre.org.au/season-2016/summer-rain/
