Triple Threat - theatre review

Brendan Rock, Carmel Johnson and Elena Carapetis in Central Park West. Photo:Matthew Nettheim




State Theatre Company of South Australia continues to produce and present innovative works to Adelaide audiences, with their latest venture 'Triple Threat' at the Dunstan Playhouse.

The production consists of three one-act plays from different playwrights whose works are renowned and popular. Presented with fifteen minute intervals between the plays, the best is left for last with Woody Allen's Central Park West the highlight, following Caryl Churchill's Hot Fudge and opens with Tennessee William's little known Talk To Me Like The Rain And Let Me Listen. It's as though 'Triple Threat' becomes an artistic avalanche rolling downhill, gathering momentum and excitement with each play becoming more entertaining than the previous offering.


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The action and characters in Tennessee Williams' Talk To Me Like The Rain And Let Me Listen reflects the play's title. The mood is dreary, the situation between the characters is bleak and they seem to be lost in their own world rather than engaging in dialogue. The monologues further draw the characters apart despite their close physical proximity to each other.

The play is set in a hotel room where a couple are in love and despair, with Kate Box giving a compelling performance as the woman and Nathan O'Keefe is equally mesmerising as the man. Yet the talented pair and director Netta Yashchin struggle to make the piece rise out of its doldrums and capture the audience's interest. It's a play that goes nowhere...just like raindrops have nowhere to go but down.

Caryl Churchill's Hot Fudge is upbeat with engaging characters, featuring Elena Carapetis as the clever swindler Ruby and Brendan Rock as Colin, her new love interest. They both have secrets to hide and lie to each other to gain trust and approval. Kate Box gives a brilliant display of hurt, jealousy and obsession as Colin's alcholic ex-wife, who exposes Colin as a fraud and liar, before Ruby also confesses. Elena Carapetis' portrayal of Ruby is convincing with a solid interpretation of Ruby's motives. Brendan Rock is relaxed in the role of Colin and plays the character with enough depth and understanding to allow the audience to share in Colin's frustrations. The supporting cast is superb and provides plenty of laughs earlier in the play. Director Geordie Brookman does well to maintain the play's momentum for an interesting yet anti-climatic ending.

The finale of 'Triple Threat' is worth the wait, as Woody Allen's Central Park West proves to be extremely hilarious from beginning to end.
The play is set in an upper class apartment in Central Park West, home to the overly suspicious psychoanalyst Phyllis, who suspects her friend Carol is having an affair with her husband Sam. Little does she and Carol know that Sam is in love with Phyllis' former patient Juliet. Woody Allen's comedic touch and clever quips on marriage, men and dysfunctional love/relationships are well delivered from all in the cast.

Carmel Johnson is the standout performer in Central Park West who portrays Phyllis as a jaded woman yet with a cynical attitude to her husband's bed-hopping habits. Elena Carapetis is stunning in a Marilyn Monroe hair-style and pouty lips, delivering a fine performance as the ditzy friend Carol. Brendan Rock plays Carol's slightly loopy husband Howard, with an eccentric yet gentle nature to great effect. Rob MacPherson plays Phyllis' husband Sam with enough conviction, you'll soon warm to his character's dilemma. Kate Box makes a brief and memorable appearance as Sam's latest lover Juliet, who literally fires the parting shot.

Under Hannah Allert's fine direction, Central Park West had the audience roaring with laughter throughout for an enjoyable and entertaining end to three hours of an eclectic theatre experience.