My Wife’s Family

During the lockdown period for Covid-19 we all baked, crafted, gardened and, of course, spent time watching Stan, Netflix and bingeing on Binge. For a long while our theatre exposure was restricted to old YouTube versions of plays, musicals, operas and ballet. Lately, some companies have presented virtual theatre to keep the Arts alive in Adelaide. The Adelaide Repertory Theatre has presented a number of virtual productions. Now Tea Tree Players (famous for their productions of farce) present their latest contribution, My Wife’s Family, a radio play on film!

In the style of Dad and Dave from Snake Gully, My Wife’s Family - based on a play by Henry Duprez, from the original story by Hal Stephens and Harry B. Linton - relates the adventures of Jack Gay and his wife Stella.

Set in the 1920s, the Gays live contentedly in their house, ‘Peacehaven’, awaiting the arrival of Stella’s family. In the tradition of farce, the family’s arrival creates anything but peace! Everything goes awry, complicated by a baby grand, a secret baby, a vet turned piano tuner, an aspiring actress and another whose career is washed up - all resulting in a climactic explosion.

Farces normally rely on the slamming of multiple doors plus visual gags, so I was intrigued to see how Tea Tree Players would handle one of the most demanding of theatrical genres as a radio play.

Director Selena Carr has tightened the original script and cleverly recreated it for radio presentation on film. After her highly successful production of Vintage Hitchcock – A Live Radio Play in 2019, she was the logical choice to present TTP’s first virtual play. Her direction is tight and her knowledge of the style is impressive.

The vast majority of the play works well - the slamming of doors, sound effects executed by the cast, exaggerated acting, bridging music, advertisements and a plot with corn ‘as high as an elephant’s eye’. What is missing at times is an audience reaction, which causes some of the jokes to fall a little flat.

This is not the fault of the production or the actors. The script has a suitably convoluted plot and more than its share of humour but is let down occasionally by one-liners that need laughter to enhance the comic effect - with the notable exceptions of the varnishing of a woman’s legs and rescuing a wife’s pussy from a tree. However, this is a minor defect and is more than compensated for by the advertisements, notably the Vanish Toilet Soap advertisement, complete with song and bubbles!

The cast are seasoned farce performers and know the acting style required. They relish the larger than life characters – Theresa (Lilly) Dolman’s domineering Arabella Nagg, Kieran Drost’s droll Jack Gay, Adrian Heness’ impressive Announcer, Tina Hall’s sophisticated Dolly White, Hayley Mitchells’ highly strung Stella Gay, Damon Hill’s henpecked husband Noah Nagg, Steve Weyland’s devious Doc Knott and Rhi Shapcott’s petulant Ima Nagg.

With a production crew comprising Samuel Creighton, Mike Phillips, Selena Carr, Damon Hill, Lilly, Jo Allenby, The Monday Club, Beth Venning and complete with an epilogue featuring such Tea Tree Players’ identities as cleaning ladies, My Wife’s Family, a radio play on film is highly entertaining, full of comedy, suspense and a liberal dose of hilarity!

Barry Hill

Playing on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkn_4ndb9bo