Life in a modern-day crazy family portrayed
to hilarious effect. (Review by Pauline Dalais)
Greg Homann’s One Woman Farce was recently presented on the 2013 Witness Hilton
Arts Festival.
We are transported into the Hodgkins’
household as they prepare for the arrival of Granny (Nana) and during the
course of the play we get to meet six characters, all played by Louise
Saint-Claire.
The set is basic - simply consisting of five
doors, each representing one of the six characters. Apart from that, there’s
just a desk which turns into a bed at one stage and a copy of the house rules
hanging from the ceiling.
Watching Louise Saint-Claire go from one
character to another reminded me of a hyperactive hamster on a wheel, she’s
just superfast. This is a physical tour
de force as well as a brilliant performance.
Lizzie, the wife who is a life coach, is
telling the story. Des, her husband, is the inventor. We never see him because
he’s in his own invention space. Amanda is their 16 year-old daughter who only
speaks in sms language. She’s not too happy about Gran’s impending arrival
because she has had to give up her room for her grandmother and move into the
lounge.
Nana was evicted from a retirement village
having been accused of being a menace. She drinks and is an online gambler
which is how we get to meet Mork. He is a loan shark who has come to collect
the money Nana owes him.
Kyle is the adolescent son who stammers.
The house rules written by Des includes the
instruction to stay out of her way which is why Nana thinks she’s gone blind
because she never sees anyone.
Written and directed by Greg Homann, One Woman Farce portrays life in a
modern-day crazy family to hilarious effect. The production premiered at the
National Arts Festival in 2012 where it justifiably won a Standard Bank Ovation
Award. – Pauline Dalais
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