JOIE DE VIVRE: Magda Szubanski as Countess Aurelia and Julie Forsyth as Mademoiselle Gabrielle in a scene from The Madwoman of Chaillot.Image: Jeff Busby.
French playwright Jean Giraudoux was highly optimistic at the time of writing The Madwoman of Chaillot, despite the Nazi occupation of France. Giraudoux hoped his play would be a reminder to the French public of what needed to be preserved in their culture. He intended to stage The Madwoman of Chaillot during the reconstruction days in France after the war but he never saw a performance.
He died of acute uraemia, a type of blood poisoning caused by kidney failure, at the age of sixty one.
Fancifully French by Linh
The Melbourne Theatre Company presents The Madwoman of Chaillot a French play of fantastical proportions at the Arts Centre's Playhouse Theatre.
The story follows the attempts of a Cafe owner to stop greedy oil-hungry capitalists from digging beneath the streets of Paris to line their own pockets without consulting the locals.
Director Simon Phillips manages to re-create the ambience of Parisian life and allows all the charming characters to swirl and move freely throughout their scenes. The opening act, where a waiter serves, a flower seller wanders about and a street performer juggles balls and throws batons, is a wonderful scene of vibrancy and humanity.
Comedienne extraordinaire Magda Szubanski plays the owner of Cafe Chez Francis in Chaillot, and brings believability and assuredness to Countess Aurelia whose eccentric personality earns her the endearing title of Madwoman. Magda Szubanski is in her element as she weaves the wit and wisdom of the play's dialogue with her comedic flair, adding a few moments of spontaneous fun to her role.
Another crowd pleasing performance comes courtesy of Mitchell Butel as the Ragpicker and he also plays the Broker.
Mitchell Butel brings enough arrogance and business smarts to make the Broker a delight even if his character is lacking substance. His portrayal as the Ragpicker begins as a menacing opposition to Countess Aurelia, until he becomes her ally. Mitchell gives an hilarious and enthralling performance as the Ragpicker pretending to be the President in the mock trial scene.
There seems to be four Madwomen in the play, with another three leading ladies of the theatre. Kerry Walker, Julie Forsyth and Sue Ingleton also provide sterling support in double roles.
Kerry Walker is brilliant as the no-nonsense Madame Josephine whose attention to detail earns her respect among her peers. Kerry Walker also plays the Baron, who agrees to the oil digging scheme with great caution.
Julie Forsyth plays the scheming American Prospector to great effect and her portrayal of the dotty and ditzy Mademoiselle Gabrielle is irresistibly funny and captivating.
Sue Ingleton shines as the easily influenced President of France who is always in search of progressing and economically advancing France in the interests of the people as well as himself. Sue is also entertaining as the argumentative and self-indulgent Madame Constance whose imaginary dog, Dickie, is as real to her as Mademoiselle Gabrielle's imaginary friends.
Other notable performances include Melinda Butel as the wholesome and lovely Irma; Sam Hryckow as the deaf/mute juggler is sensational despite only uttering one line in the entire play; Alex Menglet is nicely cast as the Sergeant and Sewerman; Stephen Phillips is a dashing and handsome Pierre who steals the scene even when he's playing dead.
With the star power of Magda Szubanski in the title role, the play was expected to pull more audience numbers as well as plenty of laughs.
However,the twilight performance was riddled with mishaps from the beginning and continued throughout Acts one and two.
Following technical difficulties which delayed the opening for half an hour, there were missed cues, tripping over props, giggling out of character and messed up lines.
All credit to the cast and crew, as they overcame the awkward situations with clever ad-libbing, well-timed quips and excellent improvisations to keep the play on track.
The Madwoman of Chaillot is a highly whimsical comedic fantasy only Giraudoux can conjure, with overly exaggerated situations and beautiful flowing gowns, colourful characters and witty dialogue. Perhaps made even more enjoyable as the cast made the most of unexpected challenges live theatre performance create.
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