Zigzag Street

There are times for all of us when life is…well…just plain crappy, but for some people, fate seems to hold a personal grudge. The current production for Adelaide’s Stirling Players epitomises this in a funny and bittersweet way.

Zigzag Street is a comedy about a young man who is seen by his best friend, others and even himself as the embodiment of someone to whom ‘shit’ always happens. Nothing seems to go right for Richard Derrington and what’s more, the hapless 28-year-old constantly and hilariously contributes to his own woes.

Richard is living in Red Hill, at his much-loved and recently deceased grandmother’s Zigzag Street house, a residence his mother wants him to renovate. Richard has been miserable since his long-term girlfriend left him. He dwells on what might have been and struggles to see an end to his misery. Well-meaning people give Richard advice, his irritable mother keeps ringing about the renovations and his best mate is constantly pointing out to him that Richard’s celibate days are dragging on too long. To Richard’s great distress, there’s no positive change on the horizon. His only constant is his grandmother’s grumpy, flea-ridden ginger cat.

Philip Dean’s adaptation of Nick Earls’ novel is an episodic play, made up of multiple short scenes which switch instantly and frequently between Richard’s grandmother’s house, his workplace, the local doctor’s office and various other settings.

A play structured in this way would be a difficult and dangerous project for even a seasoned director, but in her first directorial undertaking since university, Miriam Keane does exceptionally well. She keeps the pace moving and not once does it falter, despite the large number of scenes and costume changes.

Keane is helped in the fine continuity of this play by several contributors onstage and off, not the least by Lee Cook as Richard Derrington. In an unflaggingly energetic, funny and often poignant performance, Cook is an accomplished anchor for the show. His strip scene is hysterically funny and helps demonstrate he is a brave and versatile actor. Well done.

According to the program, Patrick Gibson has had an ongoing passion for storytelling and acting, but his performance as Jeff, Richard’s best friend, is his first for the Adelaide stage. Local companies will be clamouring to use him, because he is a natural actor, with a great sense of comedy and timing. A terrific performance.

Another standout is Carly Whittaker. She embodies her character, giving a heartfelt and nuanced performance as the quirky, gorgeously centred and unaffected aged-care worker, Rachel.

In addition to guiding the production and designing the set, Director Miriam Keane has stepped into the role of Sal, due to cast illness. Her performance is admirable to say the least, and without the program notes about this substitution, the audience could not have guessed at the change. A great job.

Caryn Rogers is quite good in the role of Richard’s immediate work manager Hillary, but she lets herself down by speaking too quickly and by her occasionally wavering volume. Her airport scene is particularly funny.

Jonathan Pheasant is very good as Greg the doctor, while Naomi Belet is delightful as chatty Deb. Shona Cameron and Jasmin Muller also play their roles well.

Despite multiple settings being present on the stage Jason Groves has created good lighting design against a complicated brief. Mark Reynolds has excelled in sound design, with effects as diverse as the ‘ting’ of a lift door opening, down to a funny fart or two. Backstage workers do very well to ensure the many costume changes do not allow the pace to slip. An inspired touch in Miriam Keane’s set design is the use of simple but effective projection to denote settings not physically part of the set, such as the doctor’s office and the airport.

In Zigzag Street, The Stirling Players have rounded off their 2015 season with another fine production. Don’t miss this one.

Lesley Reed

Note: Some coarse language, nudity.

Photographer: Mark Anolak