The cast of Enright on the Night. Supplied.
Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in a toast to the wonderful life and works of Nick Enright.
Nick Enright was a real muti-tasker: actor, director, poet, playwright, translator, screen writer, lyricist, teacher, dramaturg and encouraging mentor. He worked at NIDA and WAPPA. He had a massively impressive CV and resisted the siren call of Hollywood and Broadway to remain proudly Australian.
Enright was the first Australian playwright to be nominated for a Tony Award. He wrote 12 musicals and many plays, including The Venetian Twins (1979), On the Wallaby (1980), Variations (1982), Summer Rain (1983), Orlando Rourke (1985), Miracle City (1996) and not forgetting The Boy From OZ. He had numerous writing partners, including Terence Clarke, Alan John, Max Lambert, Glen Henrich and David King. Enright is also known for the iconic plays Blackrock, Daylight Saving, Mongrels and the landmark adaptation of Cloudstreet, Tim Winton’s novel adapted for the stage with Justin Monjo.
Enright’s characters speak with a real ‘true-blue’ Aussie voice. Enright understood how Aussies spoke, what they thought and what was important to them. He also knew what he wanted to tell us about them – and he said it through characters we recognised and with whom we identified. According to Sandy Gore, Enright’s plays are always about families – the loss of, looking for, finding, and coming home to – in some way or another.
So it was perfectly placed that Enright on the Night was performed at the intimate Genesian Theatre, where in the early 1970s a young actor/director called Nick Enright began working and performing in A Doll’s House and Uncle Vanya, and he also directed London Assurance there.
Enright on the Night showcases a sterling cast of four terrific ladies, Angela Ayers, Juliette Coates, Rosanna Hurley and Lana Domeney, accompanied by the suave Dion Condack, musical director, on piano. The staging is assured and relatively simple. It is as if we are backstage at a theatre, perhaps in a green room. Debbie Smith’s choreography is snazzy with allusions to Chicago and Cabaret among others. The lighting by Michael Schell is fluid, effective and at times haunting.
Clearly this production is a well-thought out tribute show created by his collaborators, David Mitchell and Melvin Morrow and directed by Roger Gimblett, which tells Enright’s story through his songs and poetry. A ‘jukebox’ show of some of his greatest hits, it’s roughly arranged chronologically through his life.
We learn that Enright was born in Maitland and went to school at Riverview where he was Drama Captain. Morrow was Enright’s teacher at Riverview. Enright became obsessed with theatre from very early on. Early on in the show an anecdote is told about how he stood at the stage door at the Capitol theatre attired in his school uniform so he could meet Nancye Hayes.
The magnificent cast take us through Enright’s early works such as On The Wallaby through to mega hits from The Boy From Oz. Enright’s various moods – satirical, sad, profoundly moving, deliciously witty and funny are explored in song and monologue.
This production is a wide ranging tribute to a major voice of Australian theatre performed with much love and great affection by a terrific cast.
4 stars ★★★★
Enright on the Night
Devised by David Mitchell and Melvyn Morrow
Directed by Roger Gimblett
Musical Director Dion Condack
Choreographer Debbie Smith
23 March – 13 April 2019
Genesian Theatre, Sydney
