Review: Lead's comic timing carries the night

Middle Age Spread cast members Rene Hanham, left, Jade Hanham, Jock Hyde, Julie Hales, Peter Samuels and Debbie Hart. Photo / File

Jock Hyde's comic timing carried the night at Waipukurau Little Theatre's first performance of its latest offering, Middle Age Spread, directed by Cefyn Gauden.

Nerves were apparent, fluffs and fumbles were evident but, after the first laugh came just minutes into the first scene, the audience settled in for a good night out.

Set in the late 1970s, central character Colin (played by Jock Hyde) is a 40-ish Kiwi schoolteacher, recently promoted to principal at the local high school.

He is undergoing several midlife crises, not least of which is his obsession with fellow teacher Judy (Jade Hanham).

Colin and his wife Elizabeth (Julie Hales), host a dinner party and it becomes apparent, through flashbacks, that the relationships of the three couples are not all they seem.

Julie Hales is suitably sour and snooty as Colin's dissatisfied wife, her heartfelt sighs punctuating her performance.

Younger schoolteacher and seductress Judy is perky and sarcastic but could be more relaxed in the role. It's a difficult ask at times, when she is onstage with little to do but roll her eyes at her pompous husband Robert (played by Rene Hanham).

Rene's Robert could also be a little less stilted but I suspect that by the time the cast have a couple of performances under their belts their roles will become second nature.

By act two, the cast was starting to warm up, fuelled by generous audience applause and a rousing argument between the male characters.

The bedroom scene that followed bordered on hilarious and by the time an increasingly intoxicated Reg (Peter Samuels) put the cat among the pigeons, preview night nerves were nowhere to be seen and the characters were more believable by the minute.

Clothing designer Debbie Hart's casting as arty-crafty Isobel was a gift - wearing one of her own designs, she was suitably flaky and flustered. Her husband Reg (Peter Samuels) didn't immediately fit the mould of a lefty, womanising lecturer but again gained strength as the night wore on.

I was expecting a more'70s vibe from this play, penned in 1977 and taken to the London West End Lyric Theatre in 1978, where it won the Lawrence Olivier Award for Comedy of the Year. More authentic costuming and decor would locate the play more firmly in the era.

My advice: read the special note in the programme. The scenes are not in chronological order, which could be confusing for the unenlightened.

Middle Age Spread
By Roger Hall
Waipukurau Little Theatre
On until August 15