Review: LETTICE AND LOVAGE at Little Theatre, University Of Adelaide

Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Wednesday 4th October 2017

Peter Shaffer's Lettice and Lovage is the latest production from the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild. It is a sort of female Odd Couple, with the flamboyant Miss Lettice (Letitia) Douffet, a factually unreliable Preservation Trust tour guide at the deathly dull Fustian House, and the humourless Miss Lotte (Charlotte) Schoen, who is sent to rein in her overactive imagination, finding common ground in their love of history and hatred of ugly modern buildings. Written in 1987, specifically for Dame Maggie Smith, and revised in 1988, it won four Tony Awards in 1990.

For some reason, director, Angela Short, has her cast coming forward time and again, delivering their lines to the fourth wall instead of speaking to each other, the other person left upstage looking at the back of the speaker's head. This is a strange directorial decision that does not make for good communication between the performers.

Tracey Walker, as Lettice Douffet, and Sharon Malujlo, as Lotte Schoen, work hard to overcome this awkward, unrealistic staging. Walker is marvellous as the over the top, larger than life, highly theatrical Lettice, not that people like that really exist in the Arts community; not much they don't! You might just recognise somebody that you can think of who is all too much like Lettice, always in full performance mode. Some of the humour that comes with the role is in that recognition of people that we all know, and no doubt Walker draws on people she has met during her time in the theatre, judging by the believability of her hilarious characterisation.

Malujlo's role is at the other end of the scale, the straight-laced killjoy, bordering on OCD. I am sure that we have all met a few people like that, especially when dealing with government and corporate officials which, of course, includes Lotte, the inspector from the Preservation Society. Being very funny by being very humourless is no mean feat, but Malujlo pulls it off with ease.

In the two supporting roles, Anita Canala plays Miss Framer, Lotte's secretary, possibly having been asked to imitate Bubbles, the secretary in Absolutely Fabulous, but it needs the zany dialogue for that to work well, and Jack Robins plays Mr. Bardolph, the solicitor who finds himself out of his depth in dealing with the two women.

There is, of course, Shaffer's clever dialogue and, beneath the surface, matters of greater import get introduced. There is a serious moment when Lotte sacks Lettice, and she points out the immense difficulty she will face in finding another job as a mature aged unemployed person. Not only would this register with many who see this play but it is also a pivotal point in the narrative, causing Lotte to find Lettice a new position which then leads to their ongoing involvement with one another.

This is a fun night at the theatre, with plenty of laughs, and a chance to see one of Shaffer's few comedies.

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