OTAGO DAILY TIMES

DISCORDANT QUARTET IN ITALY

Reviewed by Barbara Frame
Friday, November 13, 2009

SEASONED travellers know that asking for a flat white in Italy will get you nowhere.

Coffee, though, is the least of Adrian's and Alison's problems. Circumstances and their own reticence find the retired librarians (Labour voters, culture mad, super organised and on a tight budget) on holiday with neighbours Harry and Judy (National voters, rugby-mad, spontaneous and rolling in money).

As the woes of shared bathrooms, the awkwardness of restaurant bill-splitting and the frustrations of incompatible agendas mount, it becomes clear that something far worse hovers between Adrian and Alison.

Roger Hall's new comedy, directed at the Fortune by Lisa Warrington, looks at the possibilities and realities of travel, and at the unexpected discoveries it can provide.

Like most of hall's plays, this one takes recognisable new Zealanders, puts them into a situation the audience can relate to, and explores their lives.

Julie Edwards is all cleavage and big heart as Judy, married to her former boss, Harry, who made his fortune in plumbing supplies. Simon O'Connor plays him with grating philistinism, leavened with flashes of magnanimity.

Stuart Devine’s Adrian, who intermittently acts as narrator, is gangly and repressed, his multi-compartmented travel outfit suggesting the need for unattainable security.

Mot affecting is Vivienne Aitken as Alison, clutching her Lonely Plant guide and something of a lonely planet herself, consumed alternately by earnest aestheticism and corrosive bitterness.

Rachel More and Allan Henry bring charm, polish and highly credible Italian accents to a multiplicity of roles from statues to waiters to aristocrats and my favourite, a Roman centurion with a cell phone.

Smart, funny and compassionate, Four Flat Whites in Italy would make an excellent pre-Christmas treat. The season runs until December 12.

THEATREVIEW.ORG.NZ

BLISSFUL AUDIENCE SHARES FANTASTIC TUSCAN HOLIDAY
Reviewed by Terry McTavish
Thursday November 12, 2009

"Roger never lets us down," an usher confided on the preview night, "but this is the best Hall yet!" How apt that Roger Hall is Patron of the Fortune, when you consider that, by my count, this theatre has given 45 productions of his plays since Glide Time in 1977, virtually every one a box office success. Add that Four Flat Whites in Italy is the 30th production for the Fortune by one of New Zealand's foremost directors, Lisa Warrington, and that she has assembled an outstanding cast, and it is not surprising that the whole theatre glows with the confidence that it has another smash hit on its hands.

A second visit confirmed that this is indeed the case: the audience were almost ecstatic, the cast responding with a joyous performance. There is a mellow warmth to this production of Four Flat Whites that makes it delicious holiday fare. By now, most of NZ knows the plot: two incompatible retired couples find themselves sharing a holiday in Italy in 2007; sightseeing in Rome and Venice, then a week at a villa in Tuscany. Brash wealthy Harry and second wife, jolly Judy, are convinced plenty of sex and cash make for a good holiday, while Adrian and anxious Alison, both erudite librarians, favour the Lonely Planet Guide, and hope to move on from the tragedy that lies behind them.

We share their actual and metaphorical journeys, getting a generous dollop of Italian travel experience on the way. It is a delight to share the highlights of romantic cities we either have, or wish we had, experienced, and it is extraordinary what a real sense Four Flat Whites gives of being transported to a more attractive world; in short, to having been on holiday. And then in a very bright move, Hall ties the trip of a lifetime to the disappointment of a lifetime - the All Blacks' shocking loss to France.

To read the rest of the view please log on to www.theatreview.org.nz

THEATREVIEW.ORG.NZ

BLISSFUL AUDIENCE SHARES FANTASTIC TUSCAN HOLIDAY
Reviewed by Terry McTavish
Thursday November 12, 2009

"Roger never lets us down," an usher confided on the preview night, "but this is the best Hall yet!" How apt that Roger Hall is Patron of the Fortune, when you consider that, by my count, this theatre has given 45 productions of his plays since Glide Time in 1977, virtually every one a box office success. Add that Four Flat Whites in Italy is the 30th production for the Fortune by one of New Zealand's foremost directors, Lisa Warrington, and that she has assembled an outstanding cast, and it is not surprising that the whole theatre glows with the confidence that it has another smash hit on its hands.

A second visit confirmed that this is indeed the case: the audience were almost ecstatic, the cast responding with a joyous performance. There is a mellow warmth to this production of Four Flat Whites that makes it delicious holiday fare. By now, most of NZ knows the plot: two incompatible retired couples find themselves sharing a holiday in Italy in 2007; sightseeing in Rome and Venice, then a week at a villa in Tuscany. Brash wealthy Harry and second wife, jolly Judy, are convinced plenty of sex and cash make for a good holiday, while Adrian and anxious Alison, both erudite librarians, favour the Lonely Planet Guide, and hope to move on from the tragedy that lies behind them.

We share their actual and metaphorical journeys, getting a generous dollop of Italian travel experience on the way. It is a delight to share the highlights of romantic cities we either have, or wish we had, experienced, and it is extraordinary what a real sense Four Flat Whites gives of being transported to a more attractive world; in short, to having been on holiday. And then in a very bright move, Hall ties the trip of a lifetime to the disappointment of a lifetime - the All Blacks' shocking loss to France.

To read the rest of the view please log on to www.theatreview.org.nz