SECRET BRIDESMAIDS BUSINESS

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https://www.huntershilltheatre.com.au/

11/11/2022 until 27/11/2022

Secret Bridesmaids Business pulls back the curtain on the fraught business of friendship and fidelity, as 38-year-old Meg (Anna Desjardins) prepares for the wedding she, and her mother, Colleen (Lois Marsh), have been dreaming of her entire life.

Colleen is determined that her daughter’s wedding will be absolutely perfect, unlike her own, fussing over everything from the ribbons for the pews and place cards for the tables, to the sheen of the bridesmaids’ shoes.

Arriving at the hotel the night before the big day, bridesmaid Lucy (Laura Stead), Meg’s flamboyant and serially single best friend from university, carries a secret that may upset the imminent nuptials. Does she tell Meg the truth and potentially ruin her life? Bridesmaid Angela (Kirsty McGowan), Meg’s childhood friend who married young, thinks not.

Every character in this play carries their own secret longing, nicely revealed with a series of monologues that break the fourth wall. Each character gets a few minutes of one-on-one time with the audience, but the effect was slightly diminished by some pregnant pauses at the end of some of the speeches, particularly in Act 2, which may have been the result of slow or missed lighting cues.

Anna Desjardins, Kirsty McGowan and Laura Steed are very solid as the three amigos at the centre of the drama – with Steed giving a particularly convincing and nuanced performance as the more disinhibited Lucy. McGowan warmed into her character as Act 1 progressed, revealing the realities of maintaining a marriage over the long term and showing some nice physical comedy chops in Act 2.

I did find Lois Marsh’s performance of Colleen a little “theatrical” against the naturalistic performances of the other actors, but her character is supposed to be slightly grating and unsympathetic as the overwrought mother of the bride, and in this, she succeeded.

In Act 2 the drama comes to a head and introduces two other characters, the one male member of the cast, the hapless groom James (Dan Ferris), and another friend of Meg’s, Naomi (Chloe Horne), who gives an excellent performance in her small but significant role. As the only bloke in a company of women, Ferris was a little underwhelming. Much of that may be attributable to the text, which is not particularly flattering to James as a character, or to men in general. But then this is a play about women’s business after all.

The set, which does not appear to have been designed by anyone specifically, is functional: a hotel room with 3 doors – one to Colleen's adjoining room, one to the bathroom, and one to the corridor. It could be any 3-star hotel room in the country. Wendy Walker’s costumes are competent and appropriate.

As I mentioned earlier, I was a little disappointed by Wayne Chee’s lighting but there appeared to have been limited resources in the space. The opening sequence of flashing disco lights set to Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” went on for about 2 minutes too long and had no obvious connection to the play itself, other than the word “wedding”.

Solidly directed by Vivien Wood, Elizabeth Coleman’s play, written in 2000, is a bit overwrought at times, labouring the points she endeavouring to make (particularly in Act 2) but it does present some funny and insightful commentary on the institutions of both marriage and female friendships.

As someone who has been a bridesmaid twice and has a history in amateur dramatics, I watched this play from various viewpoints. This production from Hunters Hill Theatre may be a little uneven at times but is nonetheless entertaining and thought-provoking.

Reviewed by Dani Haski