Printable CopyONE SLIGHT HITCH
Galleon Theatre Group
Domain Theatre
Until 01 Nov 2014

Review by Linda Edwards

Galleon presents the Australian premiere of “One Slight Hitch” by American comedian and playwright Lewis Black. The play, set in Cincinnati, Ohio, was written over a thirty year period and is a traditional romantic farce with none of the dark and acerbic comedy Black is known for. He has said that if his name was not on the play few would realise he was its author.

The play centres around Courtney, the eldest of the three daughters of Doc and Delia Coleman, and her wedding day to Harper, a perfect but dull man bound to make Courtney content and unsatisfied. Not surprisingly, she is having second thoughts even before her ex-boyfriend Ryan turns up. He is quickly hidden from her, leading to the inevitable exquisitely timed door-slamming routines this kind of farce is renowned for.

There are plenty of laughs from the witty dialogue and chaotic situations, which are deliberately over-the-top and unlikely. The characters are a motley bunch: the kind of people matriarch Delia says are a great argument against gun control, because she would shoot the lot of them.

Maxine Grubel has a ball as Delia, especially in the second act when she finds her way into her doctor husband’s pill collection to find something to calm her nerves. She is frequently hilarious, and her long speech on her generation and its eagerness to recover from the war and build a new society with the smell of death replaced by baby powder, is one of the highlights of the play. She is well matched by Andrew Clark as Doc, who is very believable as the only man in a family of women as he cavorts around the stage with great energy and plenty of booze, trying (and failing) to keep things calm.

Molly McCormack does well as Courtney, the published author who is about to marry Harper, mainly because he proposed to her nicely. McCormack brings out the conflict in the character between the successful liberated woman and her conservative upbringing and family. Laura Antoniazzi is a particular standout as the bubbly and energetic youngest daughter, P.B., and Megan Langford is great as the rather crazed sexpot middle daughter Melanie.

Director Kym Clayton has kept the timing tight and brought out the best in this talented cast, but there are a few weaknesses in the play. There seems to be no particular reason, for example, why the youngest daughter, P.B., should be looking back to the 1980s instead of the play just being set in the '80s, as the time shift adds nothing. The motivations of some of the characters are also unclear. Ryan particularly seems to have no reason to be there and spends his time vacillating between wanting to stay and go. But none of that really matters as it is, after all, a romantic comedy and not a deep, dark and meaningful drama.

The actors all do an outstanding job with the material, and they extract every bit of comedy in the piece. The set is excellent and the technical aspects went off without a hitch on opening night. This is a fun play with lots of laughs, and is well worth seeing.