A Flea in Her Ear

This production is best summed up by the last line of the first act – a complete farce. Several members of the audience near me were unable to control their mirth, eliciting a horse-like laughter at regular intervals.

Not being a scholar of the French playwright it was difficult for me to ascertain exactly which extra bits of narrative Andrew Upton stitched on to the play, written more than a century ago. Whatever it was, the combination of the script, direction, design and performance made it a night of sublime silliness – a perfect date night.

Worthy of a round of applause, but sadly it did not receive one, was the transformation of the set. Act one takes place in the drawing room of Chandebise House, whilst Act 2 is in the Snatch Time Hotel. 

When the revolve within a revolve spun in front of us, it looked like giant moving petals of a flower were in a time lapse metamorphosis. Bravo! The inner revolve spun on its own to reveal different bedrooms in the Snatch Time Hotel where mild (and not so mild ) doses of naughtiness were taking place.

The play begins with a delicious scenario. The lady of the house, Raymonde Chandebise (Harriet Dyer), suspects that her husband Victor Emmanuel (David Woods) is having an affair,  because he is no longer interested in love making.

Odd couples are the inspiration for Georges Feydeau who was quoted as saying that, when researching a play, he enjoyed finding characters who “absolutely should not meet”, then finding ways of bringing them together “as quickly as possible.”  Perhaps the most extreme example of this was the work experience girl at the hotel who peaked inside a room, where a man was doing the strangest things with a device he had brought in a suitcase.

Other moments of high frivolity included frenetic choreographed leaping, dangerous liaisons with a poorly secured glass of urine and complaints from one of the actors about the side effects of watching a play.

Feydeau often makes fun of physical ailments which we still laugh at, despite it being politically incorrect. Stealing the show (almost) was Harry Greenwood – as Camille Chandebise. He suffered from a severe speech impediment.  It won’t be easy to forget his plea for mercy.  Won’t wock we (Don’t mock me) he implores.

David Spicer

Images: Harriet Dyer, Tim Walter, Helen Christinson and Sean O’Shea; Harriet Dyer, David Woods and Tim Walter; & Sean O’Shea and Tim Walter  in Sydney Theatre Company’s A Flea in Her Ear. © Brett Boardman