The Rise and Fall of Little Voice

One of Australia’s greatest musical theatre stars, Caroline O’Connor, is the drawcard for this intimate production of the British play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. O’Connor is a force on stage so is perfect to play the overbearing and often-drunk Mari Hoff, mother to the wondrous Little Voice. There are cheers for O’Connor as she enters the stage and launches into tempestuous dialogue.

So it begins – a play that is as much about the horrendous mother as the hidden talents of her daughter. Little Voice rarely leaves her bedroom, turning up the volume on her records to drown out her mother’s anything-but-little voice. LV, as she’s called, is deeply troubled by her father’s death - and for being left alone with her mother.

But LV has an enormous singing voice and a talent to mimic the artists in her record collection: notably Shirley Bassey, Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe.  The role was made famous on stage and film by Jane Horrocks, best known for playing Bubbles in Absolutely Fabulous. Here LV is portrayed by Geraldine Hakewill, who gets more and more impressive as the show develops. She sings a beautiful final number as her character finally comes out of her shell.

No one here is going to upstage O’Connor but there are some other great performances too. Charles Wu is endearing as Billy and Kip Chapman hilarious as club owner Mr Boo.

Director Shaun Rennie gets the most from his strong cast in a production that highlights the darkness of the play, while still having time for plenty of jokes. With production designer Isabel Hudson, Rennie has conceived of a mind box of a room for LV. It’s like we’re trapped with her inside her thoughts, walled in by charcoal portraits of Bassey, Garland and Monroe. Down below is Mari’s mess of a house but the foil curtain backdrop and fluorescent tube lighting gives this whole world a surreal, show-business edge.

The play is a little long and becomes a bit too dark – the production would be more entertaining if some of the shadier bits were brightened. But it’s powerful, particularly when Hakewill hits her stride. She almost matches O’Connor – and that’s quite a compliment.

Peter Gotting

Photographer: Robert Catto