Happiness

It is amazing that we seem to have so many problems in finding the happiness we believe we deserve - and in a relatively good society. That is the problem that Williamson focuses on in this play. David Williamson has been, perhaps, our best Australian playwright for many years and he still offers a challenge to both the audience and the cast. What a contrast this is to some of his earlier plays such as Don's Party or The Club. The central characters in Happiness are the Makepeace family of father, mother and daughter, where the father is a psychologist who brings his ideas into his own family but with not the results he expected - nor did the audience.

Director Catherine Radbourne had a challenging task as there are so many very brief scenes - sometimes of the thoughts of the characters - that it does become somewhat of a challenge for the audience as the night progresses. Other than the lights on and off, so many times the pace was really quite good due to both the direction and the performances of the three family members.

Jeremy Wellwood was the father and psychologist Roland Makepeace and was mainly a good steadying influence on all around him, and on him too. His repetitive hand gestures need little more variety. Outstanding was Claire Marchesi as the mother Hanna. She had her character down to a fine art in movement, voice and overall character. The daughter was played by Lara Hinton who looked the part and moved so well but she does need a bit more voice projection. Mind you that did improve during the play. The remaining three cast members were good indeed, which made for a balanced production.

It was a pleasure to see one of the later Williamson plays which depended more on the audience being mentally involved than just visual action on stage. A challenge in many ways but well worth the effort. A good night for all at the theatre.

William Davies