 Chapel
off Chapel
Prahran
(Until
June 14)
Harold Brighouse’s 1915 crowd pleaser, Hobson’s Choice, is one of the great
English comedies, and boasts one of the funniest love scenes ever written.
Henry Hobson (Ian Rooney) is a widowed boot
maker with three daughters - Maggie (Caroline Lloyd), Alice (Ami-Louise Sharpe)
and Vickey (Kate Drougas) - who run the shop while he spends his time at the
pub.
Maggie is 30, and written off as
unmarriageable, but she’s resourceful, and overturns her father’s tyranny by
talking his shy but talented cobbler, Willie Mossop (Peter McTighe) into
marrying her and setting up a rival business. The social and sexual politics
and situations depicted may be offensively old fashioned, but the genius of the
comedy is the way Maggie turns oppressive situations to the advantage of
herself, her equally downtrodden sisters, and her new husband.
Lloyd gives a terrific performance as the
determined Maggie, as she sets out to make people respect her and those she
cares about. She moves around the stage with the precision of a chess game, and
displays a facial and vocal restraint that reduce her sisters, husband and
father to helplessness.
Rooney is a great choice for Hobson, his
cranky and craggy perfection played to the final confrontation with Maggie.
McTighe cringes from Maggie like a
terrified puppy during the hilarious proposal scene, but gradually develops
Willie’s confidence as a lover and businessman; while
Sharpe and Drougas bring a sharp contrast
as the sisters who become thankless snobs.
Director Darren Mort relocates the play
from Lancashire to Melbourne
in 1880, adding local references which work well. Bringing off a costume play
with a big cast is a challenge which has been met triumphantly. Even the
programme has thoughtful historical notes about the period and customs.
Every scene is imaginatively conceived;
especially the wedding sequence, where the converted chapel theatre’s original
window is revealed; while the musical interludes with parlour piano and singing
larrikins add a further touch of period detail.
Hobson’s
Choice is a play well worth seeing for any theatre
buff, especially in a convincing production like this.
www.chapeloffchapel.com.au
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