The play’s title comes from one of the birthday presents that struggling cabaret singer Evy Meara gave her daughter Polly, when Polly was a little girl – a gingerbread cottage, with a gingerbread mother standing at the window included. When the cottage crumbles – beware!
The play begins when Evy (Kate Raison) returns home from rehab, to be met and supported by her long time friends, ‘resting’ actor Jimmy (Tamblyn Lord) and beautiful, self obsessed socialite and blocked writer Toby (Danielle Carter) All three friends seek to disguise their wounds with makeup, booze, self-depreciation or a potent combination of all three. Unexpectedly, Evy’s now-teenage daughter Polly (Kellie Clarke) turns up, and what follows is a deliciously witty, warm and eventually life affirming play about love, the solidarity of friendship, and mother/daughter relationships.
In the tradition of the well structured play, Act One introduces and establishes the characters, and Act Two is where the major crises hit – on Toby’s 40th birthday. When a party has been planned, Toby’s husband announces he wants a divorce. The same day, Jimmy is fired from the show he was working on, three days before opening night. Both have major meltdowns – brilliant, hysterical, over the top set pieces, superbly played by Lord and Carter. No wonder Evy is driven to drink!
In Act Two we see Evy slowly getting drunker and drunker, becoming rude, insulting, and slowly disintegrating. In Act Three the pieces are tidied away with a possibly happy resolution, or at least the chance of it.
In the pivotal role of Evy, Kate Raison is brilliant; alternately sober, warm, witty and caring, or embarrassingly drunk. She is especially stunning in Act Two, in a spectacular red dress. Evy obviously needs help in picking up the disintegrating pieces of her life and is in denial about just how bad her drinking is.
As Jimmy, who suffers the slings and arrows of outraged fortune in a terrible Broadway show, Lord is fabulous.
The exquisite, beautifully elegant Carter gives a magnificent performance as Toby, who is always conscious of her beauty and femininity, and uses it to great effect to look after herself.
As Evy’s daughter Polly, Kellie Clarke is excellent, just right as the feisty but caring 17 year old. As this is the 1970’s she is dressed hippie-like, a ‘flower child’ and is into marijuana. She attempts to make her mother be a mother and ends up instead, with grudging respect, mothering her.
Adriano Cappelletta is great in the double role of uppity delivery boy Manuel and Latin stud Lou, Evy’s ex; an unwanted, uninvited visitor whose infidelity originally drove Evy to drink. He does love her, admitting that their life together, however searing and harrowing, was the best eight months of his career. But he has a tendency to lose his temper and blacken Evy’s eyes (and more) when a lyric won’t flow, when his guitar is broken…
Graham Maclean’s designs for Evy’s place bring it to life as a cluttered, very 70’s messy yet elegant home (one gathers it has been rather abnormally tidied for Evy’s return).
A serious yet extremely witty examination of some thought-provoking issues. Director Sandra Bates has gathered together a very strong cast and production team for this very good version of Simon’s dark drama.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
The Gingerbread Lady
By Neil Simon
Directed by Sandra Bates
Designer Graham Maclean
Lighting Scott Allan
Wardrobe Coordinator Lisette Endacott
Cast: Tamblyn Lord, Adriano Cappelletta, Danielle Carter, Kate Raison and Kellie Clarke
Ensemble Theatre
March 15 – 28
Running time 2 hrs 45 mins including 2 intervals
