Cantankerous Alan is worth a lot of money, even after the recent Global Financial Crisis. (GFC). He just happened to transfer his stocks in to cash just before the stock-market imploded.
His beneficiaries are Alan’s two sons..well were..until Dad married Fury, an American beauty queen half his age. There is no pre-nup.
Dad and Fury fly in to town to celebrate his 70th birthday with his family. There isn’t exactly a celebratory mood. His two sons, Ian and Ben, decide that they are going to raise what his intentions are in relation to his will, without getting him offside. Good luck with that plan!
Williamson mixes an uncanny blend of the dramatic and the comic before the play reaches its final resting place.
This is the third time that I have seen this Williamson play which he wrote back in 2011.
The first time was the excellent mainstream Ensemble Theatre production in 2012 directed by then Artistic Director Sandra Bates with Nick Tate playing Alan. The production was a sell-out and went on to have a short season at the Theatre Royal
The second time was a noteworthy community theatre production by the Guild Theatre Rockdale in 2016 directed by Chris Searle with Donny Muntz playing Alan. The Guild Theatre put on the production as part of its 50th anniversary year.
Now it is the turn of another community theatre, Hunters Hill Theatre (HHT), (I understand they it is the oldest community theatre group in Sydney), to take this Williamson on.
I really took in, seeing the play again, how dark this play is. Williamson tries to end the play on an optimistic note however it is just more than a tad hollow.
His incisive portrayal of corporate high flyer Alan is of a man with little moral compass. He feels his only accountability is to his colleagues, his shareholders and to increasing profits. Has anything changed? Of-course not. Williamson’s play is as prescient as ever.
Catherine Potter stagecraft works well. All the performances are good.
At first we try and give David Kirkham’s Alan the benefit of doubt but after Kirkham assiduously delivers a telling monologue we know that this man really is an asshole.
Laura Stead plays Christian fundamentalist Fury who, for all her bible bashing, has much more of a heart than Alan.
Michael Richmond’s Ian tries to stand up to his father whilst Julie Mathers plays his Sue who lends her support with her legal background.
Dave Went plays the more reserved younger brother Ben with Melissa Jones very good as his wife Laura who is a human tinderbox. For a while Jones is good at playing seething, and then she shifts gears and her anger toward Alan spills over.
Jan Johnson gives a touching, heartfelt performance as Judy who finally has a one on one meeting with Alan who blindsided her husband justas the GFC hit, resulting in his suicide.
Dollar signs featured as the stage backdrop. The design team was headed by Mehran Mortezaei who lit the stage, Geoff Jones choose the music, and costumes and props were something of a team effort.
This is a play that most people will be able to relate to. There is the old joke, ‘where there is a will there are relatives.’ More to the point, for this play, where there is a will there’s family.’
David Williamson has retired from playwriting. I wonder if his satirical view of the world and human nature has brightened? One suspects not.
Hunters Hill Theatre’s revival of David Williamson’s WHEN DAD MARRIED FURY is playing Club Ryde until the 2nd July 2023.
https://www.huntershilltheatre.com.au/
Featured image : The cast and crew of Hunters Hill Theatre’s production of David Williamson’s ‘When Dad Married Fury’. Back row left to right Michael Richmond, Julie Mathers, Penny Korths, Melissa Jones, Dave Went. Front row left to right Laura Stead, David Kirkham, Catherine Potter, Jan Johnston
Production photography by Dan Ferris.
