One of the hottest tickets on the Sydney theatre scene at the moment is Toby Schmitz’s I WANT TO SLEEP WITH TOM STOPPARD. Deservedly so. This is a well paced, sharp, funny and engaging night at the theatre.
Schmitz makes the most of his dinner from hell scenario. The scenario is mainly played for comedy, with darker under-currents around if you are looking for them. The playwright’s program notes indicate that last year he did a Master Class with Edward Albee whilst the legendary American playwright was in Sydney. Albee’s influence is very strong.
Twentysomething actor Luke (Tom Stokes) has made a seriously bad move. He has invited his new actress girlfriend Sarah over for a meet the parents dinner. To say that Sarah is incendiary is putting it very mildly.
Leland Kean’s directs Schmitz’s play with flair and the piece features uniformly strong performances from the cast of four.
WAAPA graduate Tom Stokes, with a strong background in impro comedy, has a good handle on playing Luke who just can’t predict where the next bullet, the next embarrassing moment, is coming from. You really do sorry for him by the end.
Caroline Brazier, best known for his role as Sarah in PACKED TO THE RAFTERS, rips into the role of super bitch Sarah. Brazier uses her tall, lean physique, together with her black chiffon dress, in a comically menacing way.Schmitz gives her some great lines and Brazier delivers them with relish, amongst them the title announcing lines, ‘I want to sleep with Tom Stoppard, that will fix everything”.
Two highly experienced performers revel in playing Luke’s ambushed parents, Tom and Jackie. From the moment the dinner party starts, Sarah sets her aim on Tom, and with him being a conservative, quietly promiscuous dentist, he is an easy target. Andrew McFarlane, who made his known in television shows like THE SULLIVANS, continues to enjoy theatre work and effortlessly plays the beleaguered Tom.
Wendy Strehlow, best known for her role as Sister Judy Loveday in A Country Practice, plays softly spoken wife Jackie who is more than a little overwhelmed by the Sarah’s obnoxious behaviour.
One of the play’s recurrent themes is a dialogue about the importance and the role of theatre in our ultra-sophisticated age. Naturally Schmitz proffers no answers however what Schmitz does portray vividly, and with plenty of satirical humour, is characters who don’t ever quite know if they are on or off the stage!
It was so great to see a full foyer at the Bondi Pavilion Theatre, a notoriously difficult venue to get good houses.
A Tamarama Rock Surfers production, Toby Schmitz’s I WANT TO SLEEP WITH TOM STOPPARD opened at the Bondi Pavilion Theatre on Tuesday 4th September and plays Tuesdays through to Saturdays at the Pav until Saturday 22nd September, 2012.
(c) David Kary
Tags: Sydney Theatre Reviews- I WANT TO SLEEP WITH TOM STOPPARD, Toby Schmitz, Bondi Pavilion Theatre, Tom Stoppard, Edward Albee, Leland Kean, Caroline Brazier, Andrew McFarlae, Tom Stokes, Wendy Strehlow, Sydney Arts Guide, David Kary