Theatre/ Last of the Red Hot Lovers. At Canberra Rep Theatre until March 9. Reviewed by ALANNA MACLEAN.
Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers comes out on the cusp of the ’60s and ’70s and lays into the changes and uncertainties of that times.
At first it feels like a sharp-witted American domestic comedy, but it becomes more and more surreal as middle-aged Barney (David Cannell) launches into his bid for participation in the sexual revolution.
He’s using his mother’s apartment without her knowledge and on three different afternoons he invites three very different women. The outcomes are not what anyone hopes for. We never see his wife or his fish restaurant, just the three women and him.
Elaine (Victoria Tyrrell Dixon) is sharply self absorbed in her approach to sexual encounters. Bobbi (Stephanie Bailey) is full of wild stories among her attempts to get into showbiz and the maze of drugs and sex that comes with the territory. Jeanette (Janie Lawson) is someone who maybe feels things too deeply, battling her own husband’s infidelity and wanting life to be better.
There’s no lighthearted resolution to what is actually a rather stylised piece. It’s not a piece of realism. Simon’s clever dialogue is amusing and well handled by this cast. We are left with a somewhat bleak view of the era and of human relationships.
The music and costumes will evoke the times for those who were there – especially Bobbi’s high-heeled boots. The lighting could use some slower cues as characters move from one area to Cate Clelland’s highly functional set.
A good revival of a play under Anne Somes’ assured direction that has not dated as much as might have been feared.
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