Life Without Me

Live theatre is back at The Rondo with Cairns Little Theatre’s production of Life Without Me by Daniel Keene. This is a strange, absurd, but fascinating play, set in a rundown, two star hotel in an unnamed city.  The characters that arrive at the hotel all seem to have problems, problems that the hotel only seems to exacerbate.

Running the establishment is Nigel, superbly played by Wayne Hogan. You are not sure if Nigel is a blithering idiot, a serial killer or just lonely.  

The first character that literally gets blown into the hotel by a storm is John, well played by Matt O’Connor.  John first has trouble convincing Nigel that he actually wants to stay at the hotel. Nigel doesn’t make this any easier by not having a pen for John to check in and then arguing with him, as to why he wants to stay at the hotel.

Other characters turn up, such as confused linen salesman Roy (Paul Carey), the only hotel guest Alice (Alice Bredhauer), Nigel’s over-chatty mother, Mrs Spence (Carey Leahy), and troubled married couple Tom (CJ Bowers) and Ellen (Lillie McNamara). Each is seeking some kind of answer and escape.

Star of the show, however, is the hotel lift. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. The sound effects are also brilliant, as we hear toilets flushing, doors opening, lifts going up and down, footsteps on bare floor boards slowly making their way to a distant room, and the crash of distant thunder.    

The humour is dead pan, witty and well delivered, mainly by Hogan and O’Connor. This is a play that has no resolution as the characters struggle to exit the hotel, leaving behind as many questions as when they arrived. 

Director Lynn Cropp should be well pleased with overall production of an intriguing play and the performance of her very talented cast.

Ken Cotterill