Guild Caught With Underpants Down.

Rockdale’s Guild Theatre stages The Underpants as its July / August 2016 production.

The Underpants is an adaptation of the 1910 German farce Die Hose by Carl Sternheim. It was written as a send-up of bourgeois snobbery and conformity along with issues of anti-Semitism, misogyny and bureaucracy. Sound intellectual? Think again as this drawers-dropping farce flies high with double-entendres, amorous conniving and a healthy dose of slapstick.

Director Rachel Cliffe loves the challenge of a different type of comedy which appeals to her “strange sense of humour, and offers good roles for our members to explore”.

Respectable, middle class couple Theo and Louise Maske deal in very different ways with the mishap of her underpants dropping to her ankles during the King’s parade in downtown Dusseldorf. Theo is mortified and sure that his job in the civil service is in jeopardy. Louise, on the other hand, is non-plussed until suitors appear from nowhere to rent their spare room.

Phil Chaffey who plays Theo said he can relate to the character’s regimented and clinical outlook, although the bullying of Louise is something that he felt he needed to discuss with actress Natalija Karna beforehand. “She said to me early on that I had to be really stern with her in that area so I think that it will work out fine”.

Gertrude Deuter, played by Pauline Randall (a Guild veteran), is an older lonely woman who finds excitement by involving herself in other people’s lives, never hesitating to influence the young and unfulfilled Louise. While Pauline doesn’t directly relate to Gertrude’s interfering ways she can understand her motivation. She says; “the play explores the secret, unacknowledged motivations of the characters, presenting them in a way which exposes their frailties while sympathising with the human state”.

Other characters include Frank Versati, a poetic romancer who is the first to be drawn to Louise’s side. Guild theatre veteran and President, Bill Ayers, playing Versati, is looking forward to demonstrating a very different sense of humour to most plays performed at the Guild.

Benjamen Cohen,”with a K”, represents a very different type of potential suitor to Louise. Sickly, thin and asthmatic George Gleeson, (who played Jesus in “The Book of Everything) is keen tackle the challenge of reconciling the physical discrepancy between himself and the character. He added “if you like a bit of raunch in your comedy, I think you’ll really enjoy The Underpants”.

Don Gethings as Klinglehoff doesn’t suffer fools gladly and is happy to deliver a humorous but potentially controversial comment when necessary. The play’s appeal, according to Don, is that it is “funny and uplifting, a bit cheeky and audiences will certainly leave with smiles on their faces”.

Last but by no means least there’s a final surprise character played by Adrian Thompson. No spoilers, but Adrian finds the script surprisingly timeless, even though it is set in Germany 1910. “You’ve probably met these characters as they have a substance to them, a depth and are multifaceted”.

This production follows a sellout season of David Williamson’s When Dad Married Fury.

The Underpants by Steve Martin

Directed by Rachel Cliffe

Season: 29^th July to 27^th August 2016

Cast:-

Phil Chaffey

Natalija Karna

Pauline Randall

Bill Ayers

George Gleeson

Don Gethings

Adrian Thompson

Ticket prices include refreshments and programme.

Adults $25

Concessions $20

Theatre parties (20 people or more) $20

Bookings phone 9521 6358

www.guildtheatre.com.au

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