Melanie Tait’s THE APPLETON LADIES’ POTATO RACE  was first commissioned by, and performed, at Kirribilli’s Ensemble Theatre in 2019.  One of our very talented playwrights Melanie Tait was inspired to write the play after learning about an annual ladies’ potato race that took place in Robertson, Tait’s home town for many years, in the southern highlands.

The Ensemble production was a  great success and since then has proved to be very popular, having had numerous community theatre productions around Australia.

The play has had a further life with Tait writing a screenplay with a movie version being released earlier this year starring two of our finest actresses, Robyn Nevin and Genevieve Lemon.

There is very good reason why Tait’s script has proved so popular. It is a very identifiably Australian play, situated in a quintessential Australian country town with very Aussie characters. This is a feel good piece par excellence.

Th play pivots around the male winner of the rece receiving a more dollars than the female. Sydney city Dr X comes back to the town for a holiday and finds out about the discrepancy. She resolves that this is a ‘fight’ worth fighting and with the help of the other women works on getting.gender payment equality.  This is the nub of the play.

Very experienced director Jennifer Willison, who was also the Artistic Director of the Warringah Youth Theatre for 17 years, put together a production which served the play well.

Willison’s creative team , principally set designer Casey Moon-Watton, scenic designer Pam Price and Elaine Foulsham, sound designer Geoff Jone, costumes designer Anthea Brown and lighting designer Rod van Gelder and Alex Kynsh, impressively created the Appleton world for the actors to work in.

All five actresses imbued and inhabited their characters well.

Caroline Lloyd is vivacious Dr Penny, the trouble maker who, with her bold, brassy attitude, shakes the sleepy country town up.

Moja Band plays Rania, a Syrian refugee with a young duaghter Miriam, who is a patient type but who ends up taking up the cause, inspired by Penny.

Tonia Davis is great as Nikki, something of a dynamo within the Appleton community. Nothing is too much for her; she works as  a hairdresser during the day, at the  pub at night, and is also the coach of the local football team.

Linda Young played Bev, a salt of the earth country woman, set in her ways, a bit of a black and white thinker, who Penny finds the hardest to persuade.

Judy Jankovics plays Barb, a strong mided woman who has lived in the town for a long time, is single and without children, and has the time to take up the fight.

In her program note to the South Australian Theatre Company production wrote that she hopes that the play will end up being a museum piece in that there will always be gender parity in regards to money.  Hopefully this isn’t just wishful thinking.

Hunters Hill Theatre’s production of THE APPLETON LADIES’ POTATO RACE by Melanie Tait and directed by Jennifer Willison played the Hunters Hill Theatre at Club Ryde between the 17th November and the 3rd December 2023.

Hunters Hill Theatre’s next production will be sex farce BOEING BOEING , directed by Chrissie McIntyre, which will play Club Ryde between the 8th and 24th March 2024.  Most famous for its movie adaptation, it was originally a play written by French playwright Marc Camoletti. In 1991, the play was listed in the Guiness book Of Records as the most performed French play throughout the world.  It should be a lot of fun.

CREDITS : THE APPLETON LADIES’ POTATO RACE

CAST : 

BEV             LINDA YOUNG
BARB         JUDY JANKOVICS
PENNY      CAROLINE LLOYD 
NIKKI         TONIA DAVIS
RANIA        MOJA BOND

CREATIVES : 

DIRECTOR                                          JENNIFER WILLISON

PRODUCTION  MANAGER     MARISA GALIAZZO

SET DESIGN                                       CASEY MOON-WATTON

SET CONSTRUCTION                 CASEY MOON-WATTON, GRANT FRASER, JOHN DOBI   & GUNNAR KORTHS

SCENIC DESIGN                              PAM PRICE & ELAINE FOULSHAM

LIGHTING                                            ROD VAN GELDER & ALEX KNYSH

COSTUMES                                        ANTHEA BROWN

STAGE MANAGER                         

JAN JOHNSON & ALEXANDRO GOULD-AROCHA

SOUND                                                  GEOFF JONES

TECHNICAL CONSULTANT     WAYNE CHEE

REHEARSAL PROMPT                TODD BEILBY

Featured image :  Nikki gives Penny a trim. Nikki (Tonia Davis) gives Penny (Caroline Lloyd) a trim. Splendid production photography by Dan Ferris