One of his earlier plays, ‘Last Of The Red Hot Lovers’ is trademark Neil Simon, featuring a winning recipe of quick witted and sharply observed comedy.
The premise sets things up nicely. The main character is Barry Cashman, a clumsy Woody Allen type of character. He has been long time married, a 47 years old restaurant manager who from one day to the next decides that he’s going to turn into a Casanova and have some extra marital flings!
Just a bit on on the naive side, Cashman also resolves that the venue for his rendezvous is not going to be a swanky hotel room, but rather his mother’s own pristine apartment. What is this guy thinking? Is he going to really impress a woman on the make when she sees his mother’s framed photo on the mantelpiece. As Elaine remarks, ‘do you want your mother to join in?!’.
Simon divides the play into three scenes, with intervals separating them, as Cashman chooses three difficult, idiosyncratic women to try out his seduction techniques on.
Mark Kilmurry’s current revival for the Ensemble Theatre serves Simon’s soufflé battle of the sexes comedy well, playing off the play’s colourful characters.
A strong comic actor, Jamie Oxenbould is well cast as the nerdish Cashman. The plays wins audiences over in the first few minutes as we see Cashman coming in through his mother’s front door, checking that the coast is clear, and then unpacking his briefcase of bottles of wine and wine glasses, wiping them with a cloth, as he prepares for his first conquest.
Best known in musical theatre circles, Sharon Millerchip shows some flashy acting skills playing all three women; pushy Elaine, kooky actress Bobbi and depressive Jeanette.
Simon portrays the New York world he knows so well, a world where his characters live on their nerves. Cashman sniffs his fingers when ever he’s anxious, Bobbi tugs tightly on her blonde hair, Elaine is always desperate for a cigarette, and Jeanette hangs on to her handbag for grim life.
The action is played out on another peerless, lush Graham McLean set of Cashman’s mother’s pristine living room. Kilmurry and McLean focus the action, as it should be, around the main sofa that converts into a double bed, the double bed of Cashman’s dreams!
Mark Kilmurry’s revival of Neil Simon’s ‘Last Of The Red Hot Lovers’ opened at the Ensemble Theatre on Friday 3rd December at the Ensmbale theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli, and plays until Saturday 8th January, 2011.