Having been involved with a full scale Dinner Theatre production of Dimboola when I was 15, my main thought going into this re creation of the play’s original production was “How the hell are they going to get a wedding reception into the tiny La Mama Theatre?” The results were impressive.
The audience of about 35 were welcomed into the room one by one by the parents of the bride and groom who introduced themselves and asked our names. We were presented with a glass of sherry and seated at one of several round little café tables. Along the main wall was the bridal table and a two-piece band played slightly off key in the corner. The cast circulated, getting to know us and the sleazy Best Man Dangles made sure he kissed every lady in the room, on the cheek.
The play painted a very ugly picture of Australian life in the late 1960s where a veneer of the lucky country with ‘No worries’, was unveiled to reveal casual sexism, sexual hypocrisy, entrenched binge drinking and the inevitable aggression and violence. The humour was aggressively vulgar and slapstick. The shared jokes about religious leaders and their penchant for preying sexually on children suggested that everyone has always known about these problems, but turned a blind eye. This was a white Australia that didn’t need immigrants to fuel endemic racism, they had religious differences to play that part.
I can’t help think that the concept of this play and its execution are the best things about Dimboola. Who doesn’t love being part of the drama and ritual of a wedding? I’ve just always felt the script itself was not particularly engaging, barely scratching the surface of the clichéd characters. The two clowns or chorus of the play are the most jarring characters and seem to have wandered out of a Beckett play by mistake. In the right clown’s hands they might work, but not with the young actors in this production. They just could not pull off the drunken, foul, old yobbo larrikin roles at all. The character of prudish Spinster Aggie is referred to as an Old Trout amongst other things and was clearly too young to play the part. Otherwise the cast was superb, especially the Mothers of the bride and groom who radiated the motherly country matrons to a T and the note perfect Leonardo Radish who was a brilliant contrast to the rest of the cast, yet repulsive in his own way.
Food provided included nuts and dry biscuits, party pies and sausage rolls, lamingtons and macaroons and a small glass of sherry. Be aware that you are encouraged to bring your own drinks or purchase one from them outside before the performance as it went for two hours and those nuts were salty! Also be prepared for a bit of close up audience participation that included a few sing alongs, with lyrics provided.
I adore historical re-creation and really appreciated this anniversary performance; the cast worked really hard and there was a lot to be enjoyed here. La Mama showed how similar it can be to Dr Who’s TARDIS and we all had a little step back in time.
Visit the comedy festival website for bookings and further details