Review: EMILY at Domain Theatre, Marion Cultural Centre

Reviewed by Eddy Knight, Thursday 21st October 2021.

It is just so great to be back in the theatre again, and Emily, by Galleon Theatre Group, is a near-perfect example of what community theatre is all about, a dedicated team of people all pulling together to produce a satisfying night's entertainment.

I would normally lead off with the plaudits for the actors (of which there will be many) and the director but, in this case, above all, I feel I should first congratulate a whole group effort. This is a reasonably long play, two and a half hours including interval, with 21 scenes in Act one and 12 in Act two. With such a set-up there is a real danger that scene changes become clunky, intrusive, and take too long. With a tight crew, and most of the actors taking on the role of furniture movers, these changes happen seamlessly.

A special mention must be made of the two dressers, who calmly and efficiently undress and re-dress the main character, Emily, several times, before our very eyes. The fact that one of these dressers, Brittany Daw, was also the assistant director, set designer (a stunning monochrome city skyline), poster designer, and part of the publicity team, shows the sort of depth of commitment you can come across in community theatre. Likewise, the other dresser, Kaitlin McKenzie, doubled up as part of the wardrobe team.

So, to the actors. As the name suggests, this is a play essentially about one woman, Emily. Jess Carroll, who plays her, is onstage and talking for the whole thirty-three scenes. When she isn't interacting with the other characters, she either breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience, or she talks to herself as she questions her feelings. This is one hell of a challenge for an actor and Jess Carroll carries it off perfectly, switching from one mode to the next effortlessly. She, of course, is the one having her costume changed, often as she talks to the audience, a task as challenging for her as for her dressers, as jackets are put on and taken off, dresses removed and replaced, and bags slung over her shoulders or pressed into her hands without her seeming to notice. She handles it with aplomb and the costume changes just add to the depth of the characterisation.

As Emily, she is backed by a team of often drunken stockbrokers who work well together as an almost Shakespearean chorus of 'mechanicals', giving her terrible advice and generally messing around, while complaining about their wives. The tight ensemble work of this group is a real pleasure to watch. They are led by Adam Schultz, as Fields, who must have particularly enjoyed his role as the ultimate sleaze, until getting what looked to be a painful, but very funny, nipple-tweaking comeuppance. Along with his offsiders, played by Christian Dewar, Josh van't Padje, and Aled Proeve, they look like they all enjoyed rehearsals down the pub. Their cameos as background characters were nicely drawn pieces of physicality.

Talking of enjoying your role, I'm sure Andrew Horwood did, as Emily's father, since he did it so admirably, but I thought he shone most brightly in a whole succession of cameos as differing barkeepers and restaurateurs. It is hard to believably carry off wearing a sombrero, as is reporting the tragedy of dousing your customers in soup, but my personal favourite was his turn as a beret-capped Frenchman empathising with the lovelorn women.

The other lovelorn woman is Hallie, Emily's best friend, played by Leanne Robinson, who had some fine moments; trying to seduce Emily's boyfriend, getting clucky over an offstage baby and, most particularly, trying hard, but failing miserably, to do ten sit-ups.

Over being lovelorn (at least on the surface) is Emily's mother Deirdre, played by Therese Hornby, who displays an acerbic wit and seems not to care, but finally admits she wants a grandchild.

That brings me to the other main character of the play, Emily's boyfriend, John, played by Stephen Bills. Here I have a bit of a problem. Not with his acting, I hasten to say, which is more than fine, the character he presents is believable enough as far as it goes. I just don't think it goes far enough, and I lay the blame for that at the feet of the playwright, Stephen Metcalfe, who doesn't give him enough to work with.

As I said the play is fundamentally about Emily, particularly about whether a modern woman can have a successful high-flying career, as well as a fulfilling relationship, about whether she actually wants both, or whether she is too scared to even try. So the actor playing John is on a bit of a hiding to nothing. As it's written, he's more of a cipher than a real character, a sort of walking possibility, he's just the nice guy that Emily should be in love with, and that's really difficult to play. Stephen Bills makes a valiant attempt, and I applaud him for that, but as the play moves towards the denouement the comedy evaporates and the play becomes more of a treatise than an entertainment, leaving us with a rather unsatisfying ending.

I, however, have no wish to end on a downbeat, so I am going to heap praise on the director Warren McKenzie for steering his large cast through a complicated plot, enabling them to make the most of its comic possibilities. He also headed up a very creative production team whose subtle touches, such as having Emily the only character wearing any colour, add immensely to the overall effect. All in all, a great and funny night out.