Last evening Wild woman productions opened with there
production of “Talking with”
The play has toured the USA to packed houses…having see it
I know why. Try not to miss it runs until Saturday 29th when it will
then continue on an Irish tour before returning to the USA
The play consists of monologues by women who explore
different ways of dealing with conflict. Their coping strategies include odd
behaviors, from a woman that tests her Christian
faith by handling poisonous snakes. A baton twirler sees the face of Jesus 30
feet in the air. A destitute woman wants to live in McDonald’s, where the sick
are cured by Big Macs and no one ever dies.
Mather Furey, Shelley
Hartle and Martha Murphy perform the roles of the women.
Two
of the best monologues involve women who find God in unlikely places. April
March (Shelley Hartle) is a baton twirler who regards her talent as ''blue collar
Zen''; she saw ''God's face 30 feet up in the air'' before a hand-disfiguring
accident made it impossible for her to twirl ''at the highest level.'' Martha
Murphy, playing an old bag lady, finds the spiritual light in the fastfood shrine
of McDonald's, where she sits day and night ''like some old french fry they
forgot.'' As she fervently tells it, the world's sick can be healed by a Big Mac.
Next to these sharply observed eccentrics, some of the others (notably an
evangelical snake handler) The play offers many episodes full of funny or
pungent observation. One of the actresses, making up in a dressing room on the
road, wonders how her audience out front can live in a town ''without a decent
Chinese restaurant.''
The play will make you laugh and,
make you think. And even when their challenges and crises appear larger than
life, the characters embody universal issues: unbearable loneliness, crises of
confidence, bereavement, loss of hope and struggles with faith.
Vanity, Vapours and Dizzy Debutants
"So brilliant !!!....
If Ruth Draper performed on stage today, some would call her a stand-up
comedian. Vanity and Vapours and Dizzy Debutantes preformed at Cork
Arts Theatre last evening would lead me to say that I would politely
but firmly disagree, because to categorize such writing as simply
comic, would be a disservice to the woman.
Ruth Draper toured the world enchanting audiences with her remarkable monologues.
They are clever characterizations of women old and young, most famously of pretentious New York socialites.
The play moved with a varied rhythm, and a laugh or idea a minute.
What a group of performers. Each one a shining light.
Call Back Theatre Company and Mary Curtin can be proud of this production.
Cora Fenton (Mrs. GRIMMER- that's G-R-I-M-M-E-R) was a stand out.
Stunning. Flawless. When Mrs. GRIMMER- that's G-R-I-M-M-E-R - takes her
three lady friends out to lunch in a posh New York restaurant, they eat
a raw turnip, drink the juice of eleven lemons, and recount their
favourite doctor stories
As was Kate McSwiney -O’Rourke, a young
debutante who moves flirtatiously from one suitor to another with the
same speech in this warmly funny character.
But wasn't everyone!
Professionally directed by Mary Curtin, this is a show that should not be missed.
Please, take yourself off to the Cork Arts Theatre and check this one out.
It might not happen again. Runs until Saturday Tonight 8.00 Tomorrow till Sat 6.30.
Tickets €15 and €10 bookings 4274077
The Mole
Watch out for the Mole
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 2:00 PM
Subject: Re: Show at Cork Arts Theatre (the Mole)/my review
I would just like to add my two cents with regards to last night's showing of Vanity Vapours & Dizzy Debutantes - I was also particularly struck (with mirth) by Cora Fenton's performance of Mrs. G-R-I-M-M-E-R.
A mixture between Mrs. "Bucket" (one of my favourite TV characters)
and Mrs. Smith from "The Bald Prima Donna" performed with on-the-button
comic timing.
Cora is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
And as for the two flawless and also highly amusing characters performed by Kate McSwiney O' Rourke,
she took me straight into the era as if I'd stepped into a time machine for the evening
and delivered two very convincing ladies. Not only did she look the
part but possessed all the mannerisms, charm and vocal anthenticity of
a Ruth Draper character. Class act! One thing you did not mention in
your review which I think deserves attention is the costumes.
Whoever was behind that certainly did their homework and helped to complete the wholeness of a fantastic overall presentation.
Congratulations to all involved. c
Secrets and Stories
Well Call back has done it again! People will start to think I am working for them. LOL not true….
Adapted from the works of Paddy Kennelly. Call Back Theatre presents a hugely enjoyable show
adapted from the works of the award winning Kerry poet Paddy Kennelly.
This is an evening of hilarious from a multitude of colourful characters brought
zestfully to life, Cora Fenton plays ten characters or more will such skill,
you just want the show to go on and on .This light summer entertainment,
which Irish audiences will enjoy as we sit back and laugh at ourselves,
and laugh at the people we have known. The tourist will also love it
giving them a real insight into Irish village life. I saw this the last time it was at
Cork Arts Theatre, so it back by popular demand and I am one of the people demanding!!
The characters portrayed in Paddy’s work are instantly recognisable and can
be found in any small village in Ireland. Do not miss it
The Mole
Watch out for the Mole
The Importance of being Earnest
Tony Canniffe’s
direction of Chattyboo’s production of
Oscar Wilde's drawing room comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest, is
triumphant to say the least!
Those who have not
yet had the pleasure should therefore pay a visit to the Cork Arts Theatre to
see Wilde's masterwork from 1895…You will NOT be disappointed
All the cast gave excellent performances, and, I was hooked
from start to finish. No Great Mystery to why this production is SO good … Just
good acting/script, design, costume/ set and direction…Yes Folks this
production has it all. The work has always been correctly described as
"witty, brilliant, light, and very funny" and this production retains
all this, but I think that you can add "whimsical and just plain fun"
to all the rest!
Ian McGuirk
(Algernon) and Frank Pendergast(Jack Worthing) made an excellent duo.
Frank Pendergastportrays John Worthing, a man who does not
like his true name, Earnest, so he simply decides to change it, thus causing an
evening of mistaken identities, too many proposals, christenings, and even a
battle over pastries! Pendergast displays energetic charm and class in the
principal role. As he is the glue that holds the evening together, what with
all the subplots leading back to his character, Pendergast is a perfect choice.
At one moment he can be proper and rigid, the next act he is hilarious as a
brother in mourning. Pendergast 's comic timing hits the mark each time.. He
gives a marvelous and exuberant performance.
Ian McGuirk gives a scene
stealing performance as the foppish Algernon Moncrieff. Ian’s elastic facial
expressions are downright sinful and hysterical; you know what Algernon is
thinking just by watching the actor's face. Ian gives Algernon an air of an
ostentatious egotist that makes the character snotty, yet you know you would
want to sit next to him at a dinner party.
Pendergast and McGuirk have some of the best comedic
scene work of the evening. Both actors share the spotlight and the laughs. They
play off each other with accurate comic timing and feed off each other's
energy. Their heated argument over cake and muffins is a comic highlight of the
production. It is exciting and hilarious to watch unfold.
Aine O Leary is one of those
actresses who is able to completely transform herself into different
characters. In Two weeks we will see her as Moll in Chattyboo’s next production
opening on the 16th Aug. As Lady Bracknell, she is comic brilliance
to the hilt. Oscar Wilde himself would have loved her performance. O Leary is
reminiscent of Maggie Smith, with doses of Dame Edna and Helen Hayes thrown in
for good measure. The actress has a powerful stage presence that forces all
eyes on her. But where she earns even more praise is how she adds more laughs
to the comedy written for her character, either by her unerring comic timing,
or with her droll facial expressions. O Leary 's histrionics have the audience
in the palm of her gloved hand each time she enters a scene. She is priceless
in this production.
Roisin Donovan is Cecily Cardew, was
more thanconvincing as a young English
Rose .Donovan is a porcelain beauty with brains, giving an effervescent and
veritable performance.
As the Rev. Canon Chasuble, Jim
Queally gives a "laugh a minute" performance. He is both mirthful
and uproarious as the man of the collar.
Angela Newmanis Gwendolyn Fairfax, the rich young maiden
who is betrothed to Pendergast. Newman, like the rest of the cast, wears her
character like a second skin, breathing life and energy into it. She too has
the rhythm of the comedy down pat like the true professional she is.
Miss Prism, the school teacher who has a couple of secrets under her spring
straw hat, is given a jovial performance by Mary Canniffe. The actress has her a little scatterbrained, seeming
to be thinking of two things at once. It's just engaging to watch unfold on
stage.
Charlie Ruxton and Ian Queally played the butlers, and the actors has a grand time with
both characters, which has the audience enthralled each time they entered or left. They may have
had small roles , but they still shined as brightly as the rest of the company.
What is so admirable about all of the cast is how they have the rhythm of
the art of drawing room comedy down pat. Each cast member has the refinement,
politesse, and idiosyncrasies of their character perfectly interwoven into
their acting craft. That can only be achieved by superb direction and the
talents of the cast.
Perhaps more importantly for a Wilde play, all the famous lines were
delivered excellently
Do Not Miss it!!! It runs until
Saturday 11th August….and I am told its booking out fast. The Mole
