The Widow Unplugged

What a brilliant way to ward off dementia - write and perform a fiendishly clever - language muddling one man play set in a nursing home, then perform it eight times a week for over a month.

Just a few months shy of turning 80, it’s a feat which more than deserved the standing ovation he received on opening night.

Reg Livermore’s latest work shines a spotlight on the origins of his incredible career and provides a platform to show off his full range of talents. Reg famously hired the Mosman Town Hall to put on his own pantomime before he turned 13.  He hasn’t stopped almost seven decades later.

The Widow Unplugged begins with Arthur Kwick pushing some medical equipment into a room in a nursing home. At first it was not clear if he was a clown doctor or a resident in need of some help. It soon emerges that he’s a washed up actor, who has accepted free board in return for entertaining the clients. 

There is nothing gentle about the comedy. Reg energetically darts across the stage and even collapses, to feign near death. His instructions to medical staff in mangled English are “Don’t recusitate (sic) me.”

We learn of the sad decline of his career, sprinkled in with fond reminiscences of the glory days of pantomime. He paints a delightful sketch of the template for every character from the Dame to Heroine and Damsel in Distress.

In the second act the play switches to a play within a play.  A very clever transformation (master minded by designer Charles Davis) sees the window of the room switched into a back drop, stage light globes are switched on and the privacy curtain of the nursing home room becomes a stage curtain. 

Arthur performs a love letter to the pantomimes of Reg’s youth – welcoming Ladies and Gentlemen as Ladels and Gelantinos (sic).

There are lots of references to local middle Sydney suburbs, tickling the fancy of many members of the Ensemble audience who live there.

Fans of Reg Livermore’s quirky humour will leave this production with smiles on their faces.

David Spicer

Photographer: Prudence Upton