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The
Graduate - A Revue - Kenton Theatre 17th - 21st March 2009
 The following review was written by Julie Huntington as an independent revue of one of The Henley Player's recent productions. The Henley Players have a number of HAODS members and we believe this article will be interesting to all our members...
"...Hello
darkness my old friend, I've come to
speak with you again..." The haunting music of Simon and Garfunkel
instantly transports us back to those heady days of the 60's when
women burned their bras, thousands marched against nuclear power and
the baby boomers were rebelling against the world with flowers in
their hair and weed in their mouths offering free love to anyone who
asked for it. After the austere years of the war, the world was in
revolt.
Then came
The Graduate.
This
1967 iconic film starring Ann Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman, just like
the petulant child trying to break away from his parents'
influence, also flew in the face of convention in an attempt to shock
audiences into taking notice. And shock it most certainly did.
Ranked the 7th greatest film of all time* , it is hard to believe
that this enduring film is 42 years old, yet the subject matter is
probably still just as controversial even in these liberal times,
the younger man seducing a woman old enough to be his mother. (Click read more to read on...)
In
2000, the long awaited debut of a stage adaptation of the film was
warmly received by the critics and went on to be a hit both in London
and New York. It was also a great hit with Henley audiences at the
Kenton Theatre when The Henley Players bravely took on this well
loved classic. The black and white set was clean and fresh and
leant itself easily to swift transformations from Benjamin´s
bedroom, to the hotel room to the dump that he found himself living
in when mooning for Elaine in Berkley - although I would have liked
to have seen a change of the black silk pillowcases as well as the
bedspread! The opening pace was a little slow, but this swiftly
picked up, especially when Mrs Robinson, abley played by Karen
DuPlesis with a faultless accent, revealed all (and I mean ALL) in
the famous "....do you find me attractive, Benjamin?" scene.
Hats and everything else off to this actress for this scene, which
was very well executed if not just a little over the top, totally
horrifying Benjamin Braddock, played by Terry Wright. Once again,
here was an actor who´s accent was perfect throughout, but with body
language thrown in, from the petulant son to the cock-sure, arrogant
young man in the strip club.
The
evening was a roller coaster of anticipation as each aspect of
this hilarious, yet touching play unfolded. I loved the sparky
scenes between Elaine (Angharad Jones) and Benjamin. All the
supporting cast were strong from Benjamin´s parents (Kathy Bridekirk
and Darrel Poulos) - his mum really was on another planet, the
betrayed Mr Robinson (Mike Rowbottom) down to the delightful
interplay between the two desk clerks at the hotel and the barman
with a couple of drunks in the strip club. Another moment that made
the audience sit up was Daisy O¨Halloran in her red basque and snake
hips as the stripper! How much could one audience take in a night?
The
costumes were bright and lively and really in keeping with the
characters. I was especially impressed with Elaine´s "Berkley
University" sweat shirt. All in all it was a superb evening of
entertainment and director David Parsonson should be congratulated on
a fine show. Another triumph for the Henley Players.
So -
here´s to you, Mrs Robinson! - Well done!
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