This lonely hearts club's bland but Creyton and Brown shine
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday September 1, 2009
DUETSEnsemble Theatre, August 30 Until October 3Reviewed by Jason BlakePETER QUILTER'S quick-change comedy reunites Noeline Brown and Barry Creyton for the theatrical equivalent of a walk in the park.Like it says on the label, Duets comprises four short two-handers populated by diverse characters all faced with the same problem: finding, securing or doing without love late in life.In the opening scene, Brown and Creyton are wary lonely hearts column correspondents Wendy and Jonathon, floundering through a pre-date meeting that will decide whether it will be worth shelling out for dinner.In the second, they morph into flamboyant Broadway impresario Gary and his personal assistant Janet. She has been his de facto "wife" for decades. Should they makeit official?After interval, we're introduced to Shelley and Bobby, boozily celebrating their imminent divorce in a tacky Spanish holiday resort and, finally, to third-time bride-to-be Angela and her resolutely single brother Toby, as they negotiate the accident-strewn minutes leading up to Angela's latest foray up the aisle.Quilter dedicates Duets to Neil Simon, though only the second piece comes close to approaching the Simonesque. Everything else has the reassuring tick-tock of bittersweet British sitcom.It's lightweight stuff and very easy to tip into cliche, but Brown and Creyton are effortlessly charming and sketch each character with verve and skill (and by Lisa Mimmocchi's humorously unflattering wig and wardrobe choices).Their timing is formidable and though Duets is streaked with pathos, Sandra Bates's production keeps the focus on her actors' comic chops, particularly as the hysteria builds in the final vignette."That's not the same actor, is it?" whispered one woman to her friend in the row behind me as Creyton stepped out as the paunchy bachelor Toby. Inthis context, there's no finer compliment.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald