Reg Livermore is back with another one man show and my anticipation of this event was high having not had the privilege to see an early production. In The Widow Unplugged, Livermore plays an aging actor, Arthur Kwick in an aged care facility suffering from dementia. In his last hours we are witnessing his deluded, dementia-distorted flashbacks and inner monologues. The idea is interesting if not new. It’s edge is that it is written and created by an actor renowned for incisive political and social commentary delivered with an acerbic wit and distorted through an absurdist inspired character. Unfortunately that was not present in this production and we were left with a night of semi absurdist comic moments with some awkward and uncomfortable gaps in between.
Most of the problem I think lies in the lack of a deeply drawn character and play structure. It feels like an early draft of something that can be amazing. There were some very funny moments derived from his dyslexia-inspired mispronunciation of words which drive the character through the narrative. Where the show really struggled was when he ventured into flashback of the character’s pantomime days. Widow Twanky is a female pantomime dame. A woman who runs a Chinese laundry in Peking. A pantomime character, traditionally played by a male, usually an aging actor in the later part of their career, that is not pivotal to the story and interacts heavily with the audience through innuendo. It is this character that Kwik heads back to in his mind in those final hours. I suspect the intention is to show the distorted version of this early career as a juxtaposition to the modern world he is now in but the intentions and structure were just not there and what the audience witnessed was a pantomime routine with gags about an Asian woman running a Chinese laundry with ‘no MSG in the washing powder’. Rather than be a commentary on the changing times, or an aging actor struggling to some to terms with the world that has changed around him, it starting heading in the murky waters of racism and this is where the uncomfortable silences and shuffling sneaked in.
To be fair there was a large part of the audience that laughed heartily at this. A portion of the audience that were familiar with the character that was being either recreated, lampooned or socially commented on (I could not tell which). And there was a standing ovation from about a third of the house so, as usual, we all have very different opinions on theatre and mine is just one. For me though, It is unfortunate as the there is something in this show that would work beautifully with more care around the intentions and structure. We knew from the beginning of the show where this would end, with more development this could be improved. There was a bit of a pace issue around either the actor or the character’s stumbling on lines that may just be opening night nerves. We all get them and they will drop off quickly.
Overall I had a few good laughs but was left wondering how much better it could be and how the possibility of offence was not anticipated.
Lynden Jones – Theatre Now
Playing at the Ensemble until 1st September
