Review: THE RISE & FALL OF LITTLE VOICE Is A Hilarious And Heart-warming Tale Of The Power Of Letting It All Out and Letting Go

Tuesday 5th February 2019, 7:30pm, Eternity Playhouse

Jim Cartwright's tale of the small town girl with voices of the greats within her comes to life in Shaun Rennie's sublime production of THE RISE & FALL OF LITTLE VOICE. Raucously funny and heartbreakingly poignant, the journey of one painfully shy young woman's discovery of the power within captures hearts and considers effect of emotional abuse.

For those unfamiliar with the modern day fairy tale, as Cartwright described his 1992 play which was later adapted for film by Mark Herman, THE RISE & FALL OF LITTLE VOICE takes the audience into the Northern England, down and out world of the bold and brash widower Mari Hoff (Caroline O'Connor) and her timid quiet daughter who is only ever referred to as "LV", short for "Little Voice". Whilst the somewhat over-the-hill Mari thinks she has hit the big time with new boyfriend, the oily and opportunistic small-time talent agent Ray Say (Joseph Del Re), she is still greatly dissatisfied with her life, job, and most damagingly, her reclusive unsociable daughter. Whilst Mari is seemingly getting on with her life of men, booze and bullying her best friend and neighbour, the frumpy Sadie (Bishanyia Vincent), she still harbours a deep seated resentment to her late husband and therefore LV who was incredibly close to her father and nothing like her mother. LV is damaged, traumatised by the loss of her father and having to live with Mari, leading her to lock herself away in her upstairs bedroom listening to her father's old records of the greats like Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey and Marilyn Monroe which happens to further infuriate her mother. One night when the power has shorted out again, Ray overhears LV mimicking Judy Garland and he thinks he has found his elusive star that will make him rich but unfortunately LV has no intention of sharing her talents without a lot of persuading.

The story is set in the Hoff's two-storey dump of a home and the local club run by Mr Lou Boo (Kip Chapman). Production Designer Isabel Hudson keeps the main focus on the house with a detailed expression of the 1980's home with meagre possessions and little care for housekeeping. LV's upstairs bedroom is represented by an elevated white box with little more than the young woman's record player and records, blanket and pillow and black and white murals of her favourite singers adorning the walls, a stark contrast to the chaos downstairs. The backdrop of black 'tinsel' curtains connect the work to Mr Boo's stage, aided by Trent Suidgeest's lighting of fluorescent tubes and having the rear of the theatre illuminated to represent the audience assembled to hear Ray's new find. For the house, he focuses utilises a range of light sources to represent the morning sun, a lamp in Mari's bedroom late at night, a flickering of the television set when LV emerges to watch old movies while Mari is out, and torchlight from LV's lighting obsessed new friend Billy (Charles Wu). The costuming extends Cartwright's caricatures, from old tart Mari's stream of leopard print and pleather ensembles, Sadie's frumpy 'fashion' that picks up on the worst of the 80's from ugly sweaters and a hilarious evening-out ensemble, and Mr Boo's orange ruffled shirt and powder blue suit retained from the 70's.

Cartwright's story is dark in the degree to which his characters are damaged and the resulting impact that has on their interactions. O'Connor creates a fabulously rough and ready Mari, full of liquor and lewd comments and actions with the allusion that the behaviour has become normalised in her socio economic set which adds to the pitiful nature of the character that elicits sympathy for the mother trapped in a cycle. The insults are delivered with the unabashed venom that considers it normal to treat friends and family so awfully but also shows signs moments of conscience as she flips between being vile and seemingly caring. The veteran of stage does gritty gutter well, from the voice to the committed physicality that has her stumbling around in stilettos and falling off furniture.

Hakewill ensures that whilst LV is the opposite of Mari with an introverted physicality, scampering away from social interaction and presenting the characteristic sloped back and shoulders of someone wanting to hide away, her existence is viewed as equally pathetic and sad. When channelling LV's idols, Hakewill captures the nuanced movements of the likes of Garland, Piaf and Monroe with a beautiful expression that conveys that the young girl is almost possessed in the depth that she retreats in to the characters. Her corresponding vocals are wonderful with uncanny renditions of Garland and Monroe in particular.

As Mari's best friend Sadie, Vincent has few lines since the socially awkward dorky neighbour is near monosyllabic but Vincent makes use of the hilarious physicality of the role as she hams up the sugar eating frump perfectly. Whilst Sadie seems to sit and take Mari's insults and orders to leave (though not as polite) with a resigned silence, Vincent exudes the underlying impression that the lonely woman is dying a little inside with each barb, ensuring that Sadie is seen one of the characters worthy of compassion.

Wu captures Billy's sensitivity as the only character that truly connects with LV, understanding her debilitating shyness and slowly encouraging her out of her shell with a soft spoken voice and a genuine interest in her. Wu conveys Billy's care and concern whilst also exhibiting an innocent eagerness to get to know LV which makes for a delightful contrast to the noise and deception that defines Mari and Ray.

Del Re ensures that Ray is seen as sufficiently letcherous and horny to pursue pretty much sure-thing Mari for his own purposes but also cunning enough to stay with her in order to secure a position as LV's manager. He ensure that Ray has flashes of compassion, making it believable that he would be able to talk performers into doing things they wouldn't normally do, but ultimately having a greed and drive to see his own motivations override the wellbeing of his performers, particularly LV. Club owner Mr Boo is presented with an equally dodgy vibe by Chapman as he presents the corny flash of a showman used to working a room of heckling patrons wanting their money's worth. Chapman also does well in the minor role of the Phone installer as he presents the flirtatious banter with Mari whilst also passing comment on his shy assistant Billy.

Whilst THE RISE & FALL OF LITTLE VOICE's message of finding your strength isn't necessarily ground breaking, this is a wonderfully comic work that shows that noise and flash doesn't always achieve success. Drawing on stereotypes, often corny humour, and a fair degree of physical humour, this is an easy to watch enjoyable show with a bit of beautiful music that has you cheering for the quiet ones and pitying the noisy.

THE RISE & FALL OF LITTLE VOICE

https://www.darlinghursttheatre.com/whats-on/the-rise-and-fall-of-little-voice

Photos: Robert Catto