Mathew Chardon O’Dea, left, Josie Dunham, Vanessa De Jager and Fraser Findlay in “The Last Five Years”.
It showcases the talents of four outstanding local music theatre performers over two weeks. (Vanessa De Jager and Fraser Findlay, week one, and Josie Dunham and Mathew Chardon O’Dea, week 2).
Essentially a series of solos, “The Last Five Years” charts the love affair of struggling actress Cathy (Vanessa De Jager) and her novelist lover Jamie (Fraser Findlay).
Cathy begins the show at the end of the affair and traces events backwards until her first meeting with Jamie. Jamie begins by reliving his first meeting with Cathy and tells his story in chronological order until their eventual break-up. Their stories meet only in the middle of the show.
As Cathy, De Jager delivers an arresting, pitch-perfect performance. The pathos of her heartbreak at the beginning is palpable. Her brilliantly bungled audition is hilarious, while her confusion at Jamie’s growing indifference is affecting.
Findlay’s portrayal of Jamie as a flamboyant egocentric, while technically admirable, is emotionally uninvolving. His best moment comes in the excellently staged “If I didn’t Believe in You” in which he tries to convince Cathy of his love for her. Rachel Thomson makes a brief, but telling, appearance as the mistress.
Thompson Quan Wing’s carefully detailed apartment setting dominates the show but feels rather irrelevant given that most of the action of the piece takes place outside the apartment. Not even some imaginative directorial choices by director, Richard Block, could overcome resulting ambiguities.
An excellent five-piece ensemble, lead from the piano by Damien Slingsby, survived some first-night sound glitches to provide superb accompaniment for this excellent inaugural production.
The post Review / Unhappy lovers launch new company appeared first on Canberra CityNews.