Review: THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND Is A Trip Down Memory Lane, With Puppets

Wednesday 2nd September 2015, Glen Street Theatre, Belrose NSW

The 80's hit television show THE GOLDEN GIRLS gets a revival, in puppet form, with the THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND. Blending the AVENUE Q style puppets operated by visible performers with the iconic characters, writers Thomas Duncan-Watt and Jonathan Worsley roll together some of the best lines and memorable moments from the series that ran for seven seasons.

Production designer David Horne has recreated the lounge room and kitchen of the Miami bungalow, complete with swinging kitchen door, pale timbers and pastel furnishings. The four ladies are captured in felt from the waist up, each being easily recognizable from Blanche's boosted bust and over padded shoulders to Sophia's ever present handbag.

THANKYOU FOR BEING A FRIEND is very much a production for fans of the original THE GOLDEN GIRLS as familiar gags and storylines from the TV series are bought into the story from Rose's stories from St Olaf and the gibberish words she uses to Sophia's sniping at Dorothy's weight and continued jibes at Blanche's promiscuity and vanity. The character development is however enough for those that are not familiar with the inspiration can follow along. As with THE GOLDEN GIRLS, the 90 minute show covers challenging topics from homosexuality, surrogacy, aging, and sex.

Directors Neil Gooding and Luke Joslin draw on Joslin's experience with Avenue Q (Trekkie Monster) as they interpret the story and bring the puppets to life. As with Avenue Q, the puppeteers are actors in their own right, clad in black as they become an extension of the character. Whilst the facial expressions of the puppets is frozen in felt, the head movements and arm movements mimic the performer in their shadow and the body movement is provided by the actor.

Julia Dray as Blanche is the standout performer, capturing the Southern belle accent and Rue McClanahan's mannerisms in both her own physicality and the movement of the puppet. Dray consistently ensures that her own head movements are replicated by Blanche demonstrating how in tune she is with her own movement and provides a nuanced performance and well-paced dialogue. Darren Mapes has been well cast as Dorothy to capture Bea Arthur's deeper voice but he still ensures she has a feminine tone and also gives Dorothy the height and masculinity that was often played upon in the series. Mapes delivers the cutting dry comments beautifully striking the right balance of silence to convey the exasperation at her house mates and handles the puppet well, following the movements.

Donna Lee captures Estelle Getty's timing as Sophia but some of the puppetry is not synchronized with the human movement which proves a little distracting. It helps to choose to watch either Lee or Sophia and try to block out the other. The weakest of the puppet performances comes from Meredith O'Reilly as Rose as the puppet is held at a constant angle and the voice only briefly sounds American and remotely like Betty White. In addition to the 4 puppets, Nigel Turner-Carrol presents as the 'guest' characters as a human, similar to the blending in AVENUE Q.

THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND is a light, fun , well-paced work that does touch on some important topics that are still as current as they were in the 80's. The work allows the audience to revisit old friends and reminisce on the 80's, helped along by the television advertisement breaks that cover set changes. This is an entertaining night out for anyone that was entertained by this quartet on TV, whether they were adults in the 80's or mere children getting their first taste of grown up comedy as their parents tuned in.

THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND

Glen Street Theatre, Belrose

2 - 6 September 2015