Our Man in Havana

Shakespeare wrote, All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts.

Our Man in Havana brings this quote to life in a frantic, fast-paced satirical farce that is like nothing I’ve ever seen before in theatre. Exits and Entrances? There must have been over a hundred! Many roles? I lost track!

This joyful offering by Stirling Players is deftly directed by Adelaide favourite, Dave Simms, whose keen eye for satire and excellent understanding of comic timing has created a physical theatre masterpiece.

Our Man in Havana is an hilarious parody on the British Secret Service during the Cold War in pre-revolutionary Cuba. The play follows the story of Jim Wormold (played brilliantly by Lee Cook), an unsuccessful vacuum cleaner salesman who is recruited unwittingly by the Secret Service to be a spy. With a teenage daughter Millie (Turea Blyth), who is demanding more and more extravagance and mounting debt, he accepts the high paying job. Having nothing of genuine interest to report, Wormold proceeds to fabricate his own network of informants and spies, even sending intricate ‘designs’ of enemy secret weapons, inspired by vacuum cleaners, to MI6. In some ways this piece is a 'caveat' to all who lie for money. Sometimes people get hurt or die!

This stage adaptation of Graham Greene’s 1958 black comedy is clever and in places, somewhat autobiographical, as Greene bases many characters on his own experiences as a member of MI6 from 1941. The story has since been made into a movie and recently a musical, but it is this priceless piece of physical theatre created by Clive Francis, presented by Stirling Players, that will surely be a hit.

Lee Cook is the dapper and conventionally clueless English expat vacuum cleaner salesman, Womold. He plays the role to perfection - the hapless straight-man surrounded by the insanity that he has created. This wonderful actor is perfectly cast as the focal point of the piece. The other multiple roles are played by Joshua Coldwell, Ben Todd, Kate Anolak, Turea Blyth and Tom Filsell. I could not write enough about the versatility and talent of these actors.

Our Man in Havana is slickly staged and rehearsed to a point of choreographed perfection. Each actor slips (well, runs) in and out of various characters seamlessly. Multiple props and pieces of costume are used to create a bewildering number of cameos from nuns, exotic dancers, secretaries, and a creepy chief of police, to record players, lampshades and planes. These colourful characters also act as the narrators of the story and move all pieces of set, change props- or become them(!) at pace, to build scenes and situations. The car chase scene in itself is worth the ticket price!

Special mention needs to go to Joshua Coldwell. He plays many roles, but his dry, cynical Head of the Secret Service, Hawthorne, is beautifully stuffy and upper-crust and his accent and characterisation as German Hasselbach is excellent. Coldwell runs in and out of scenes changing accents and characters so much (and keep an eye out for a particularly gorgeous cameo in Act 2), he is sweating with exhaustion by the end of the play.

Kate Anolak, likewise, is an amazing talent. Her various accents and characters are perfect and her comic timing excellent. Her unintelligible Scottish brogue scene is an absolute hoot!

Ben Todd plays his roles with relish and great characterisation, but it is Captain Segura in particular, that was extremely clever, showcasing this actor’s versatility and physicality.

Newcomer Turea Blyth runs her way through every scene, capturing her cameos with skill and agility. Her ‘Queen’ moment is lovely as is her irritating Millie, Womold’s teenage daughter- such breadth of talent.

Last but definitely not least is Tom Filsell, playing Lopez with ‘Manuel-like’ hilarity. This talented young actor gives himself fully to every scene - his facial expressions when ‘becoming a lampshade’ are priceless.There is not a weak link in this entire cast.

Our Man in Havana is not a play at which one can sit back and relax, however.

The audience has to pay attention to keep up with the fast-changing characters and story line. From the start of Act One, this is a ride, and the silliness on stage immediately draws us in. I left after Act One for the foyer feeling quizzical - what did I just witness? I was rapt, I couldn’t wait to get back into the theatre to find out what happened next!

The soundscape of the play is also worth mention - whilst there are the necessary gunshots, many hilarious moments are derived from the actors themselves making all the appropriate noises- cars, record players, alarms and  phones, to name a few.

The set, designed by Dave Simms, is simple but beautifully reminiscent of any street in Havana - a rainbow streetscape of open ‘portale’ arcades which serve as doorways, bars and wings for the constantly moving set pieces and props.

Lighting by Richard Parkhill was very effective - in places shadowy, which built intrigue, and at other times characters were almost ‘hunted’ by spots to focus in on important moments. Colour was used beautifully to enhance the rainbow-coloured buildings.

Last but not least it would be remiss of me not to mention the beautiful flamenco guitar work by Marduk Gault, who opens the show and sets the scene.  Delightfully, this wonderful musician appears throughout the play creating mood music that enhances the locations. A talented young man.

Our Man in Havana is an excellent piece of theatre. Get up to Stirling and I’m sure when you watch it you’ll be ‘havana’ great time too!

Shelley Hampton