La Mama
Courthouse, until Dec 9, 2012
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars: 2&1/2
Full review published in Herald Sun on Friday, Dec 7, 2012
Jeremy Kewley, Tim Ferris and Kevin Summers
IF YOU'VE EVER WATCHED A GANG OF COMEDIANS at a gig and wondered what happens backstage, Fred Rowan’s
play, Death of a Comedian, directed by Bruce Langdon, will show you – warts and
all.
Rowan, who is a comedian
himself, depicts a gang of self-absorbed, competitive and anxious comics who
are all at different stages of their careers.
The play reveals their
grimy secrets and bad behaviour as they wait off-stage during a comedy benefit
gig for a psychiatric hospital.
The narrative focuses on
the return to the stage of disgraced TV comic and recovering addict, Johnny
Mazing (Kevin Summers), who sneaks his name onto the running sheet for the show
in order to revive his decimated career..
While Rowan’s play has a
strong premise, some well-observed dialogue and credible characters, its
potential is not fully realised, the dialogue is wordy, the staging too static,
the pace slow and the acting frustratingly uneven.
Summers captures some of
the vulnerability and resentment of Johnny, as he struggles to overcome his
nerves and confront the prejudices of the new comics who treat him as a nobody,
and the old guard who consider him a pariah.
Jeremy Kewley is puppyish
and hilariously annoying as Graham, a doctor who thinks he is funny and, being
the only non-comedian back stage, ironically gets the biggest laughs.
The other characters
represent the range of current comedians: the ambitious newcomer (David Nash),
the jealous host (Tim Ferris), the jaded, sozzled comedienne (Wendy Little),
the perky radio babe (Karla Silvey), the arrogant TV star (Shannon Woollard)
and his brutal, sexist TV producer (Linden Compassi).
Although it craves some
script editing and tightening of the performances, Death of a Comedian is a
diverting glance into the secret lives of comics.
By Kate Herbert
Cast
Kevin Summers, Jeremy Kewley, Tim Ferris, Shannon Woollard,
Wendy Little, David Nash, Linden Compassi, Karla Silvey.
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