Venue: Theatre Royal (Sydney NSW), 27 Jun – 28 Jul, 2024
Playwright: Neil Simon
Director: Mark Kilmurry
Cast: John Batchelor, Laurence Coy, Lucy Durack, Shane Jacobson, Todd McKenney, Penny McNamee Jamie Oxenbould, Anthony Taufa
Images by Pia Johnson
Theatre review
Felix and Oscar are living together, because both have recently divorced their wives. Although best friends, their personalities are wildly divergent and therefore do not make the most compatible of housemates. Neil Simon’s 60-year-old play delivers nostalgia in spades, but The Odd Couple has clearly lost its relevance decades ago. Many will nonetheless find the humour appealing, within a presentational style that straddles between something charmingly classic and regrettably outmoded.
Direction by Mark Kilmurry remains faithful, to memories of 1960s New York. It is a slick production (on an attractive set design by Justin Nardella), with precise timing that ensures we know exactly where the laughs are situated. Actor Shane Jacobson is very strong with the comedy, never missing an opportunity to expand on Simon’s humour, in the role of the carefree Oscar. On the other hand, his counterpart Todd McKenney is perhaps not entirely convincing as the uptight Felix, but commendable for bringing a consistent verve to his performance. Lucy Durack and Penny McNamee are noteworthy as the Pigeon sisters, an inventive pair demonstrating remarkable capacity for enriching some perhaps more ordinary characters.
Theatre will always explore the silliness of being human. What is silly changes constantly however, just as what we feel to be funny rarely stays the same. When revisiting old comedies, we can discover how we have evolved, and be able to identify shifts in culture that reflect the transformations of values and attitudes. In The Odd Couple, we can see some aspects of life that have gone through dramatic metamorphosis, alongside others that have scarcely altered. Humanity is unlikely to ever become anything resembling pristine, but we certainly cannot help but try tirelessly to be better.
Suzy Goes See 