Sex and conflict prevail in Famous for Fifteen plays

Marital turbulence, sex, family drama and old age — it’s all bubbling away in the themes of the six ­Famous for Fifteen plays.

Six playwrights are all vying for the Golden Inkwell award and the ­standards are high this year. Despite the minimal sets and props needed for a production of this nature, plot and dialogue were strong among the finalists. Here are reviews from the final dress rehearsal at Daylesford Theatre which took place on Wednesday night. The productions continue until August 21.

- I Heart You Brady McGrady: Written by Andrew Stoneham and directed by Nicole Burgess.

This snappy play was beautifully scripted and ­excellently acted by its young cast.

The play opens with a young girl reaching one almighty climax that ends in her screaming, “I heart you Brady McGrady!” I was a little concerned for the elderly audience on the front two rows made up ­entirely of Westmeath rest home residents but I was assured afterwards that they had seen it all, before I was even sparkle in my ­father’s eye.

Two female convenience store workers delivered ­razor sharp sitcom-style banter as they argue over who the delicious Brady Mc Grady would prefer to sleep with. The play is like a ­lesson in the language of modern youth. It was laden with hilarious one liners such as the “groundbreaking of my special woman spot” in reference to having one’s first orgasm.

The young actors Paige Hallett and Raven Baksh have to be commended for their polished performance while director Nicole Burgess admitted playwright Andrew Stoneham had made it incredibly easy for her to direct.

- Cockroaches: Written by Owain Johnston and directed by Liz Knight.

In Cockroaches, a ­divorced couple are the sole survivors of an apocalypse. It is a great premise for a ­dialogue-driven play, which was amusing for the most part. The wife, played by Nicola Wilkinson, is clearly jaded by her husband’s ­antics where as he sees the whole scenario as a good excuse to get her back in the sack. “We do have a duty to our species after all,” he points out. Witty snippets such as this help the play along which ­suffers a little from the ­banality of two people bored out of their minds.

Wilkinson does ‘fed up’ so well while Mike Hind bounces around the stage like a hyperactive, over-sexed puppy. They do seem like an unlikely pair and a more sinister side to their relationship begins to ­prevail.

The lighting was effective in this piece, following the characters and mirroring the plot.

- The Slip: Written by Karenmary Penn and ­directed by Jenn Stervinou.

The Slip is a punchy little play about a mother and daughter who are held hostage in a convenience store robbery.

Connie Dey as the elderly mother took to this role ­effortlessly. Although her character was slipping into a state of senile dementia, her nonchalant attitude ­towards the whole situation was hilarious. She actually passes her handbag to the robber at one point saying he was holding her up so she presumed he wanted her cash.

It was wonderfully scripted in her favour as she came out with crazy ­sentences such as her ­living a “fuzzy, foggy, ­fangled existence.”

This was Micah Jiminez’s first public ­acting performance and he had a great stage presence as the terrifying gangster.

The plot shows how the world’s troubles can transcend our social standing. While the poor, gun-wielding robber clearly has problems of his own, the upper class mother and daughters’ history reveals its own dark and twisted roots. “You think I have problems?” says the gangster to the old ladies.

Barbara Jones gave a powerful performance in this perfectly casted play, which peaks when she makes her heartbreaking confession.

- The Mason: Written by Kevin Comeau and directed by Deborah Smith-Joell.

This was such an interesting play to watch due to its incredible relevance to current day Bermuda. A couple is struggling to ­survive financially in a ­collapsing Bermuda economy and they are weighing up whether to put the ­husband’s father in a home or take their son out of Saltus Grammar.

The play is heavily political, making several hefty gabs at the government. John Dale was so convincing as the retired professor whose old age was slowly claiming his sanity. It is a clever plot — you soon realize there is more reason in his ramblings than first meets the eye. His was an extremely touching ­performance as his character grappled with distance memories whilst delivering some poignant and thought provoking life lessons about the choices we make. This is an emotive play guaranteed to pull at the heartstrings.

- Chance Encounter: Written by Henry Godfrey and directed by Bob Duffy.

This play tells of an ­English businessman who meets a sexy Russian woman in a hotel.

The woman is grieving the loss of her husband and the man asks her questions while trying to console her. The play does seem to go on a little as we hear detail ­after detail about the same topic — her husband’s death and their international jet set life. The ­conversation switches to his life but it is a fleeting excursion.

It wasn’t the most ­convincing of Russian ­accents by Carol Birch which consequently brought a little unintentional comedy when he asked her whether she was Italian.

The strength of this play lies in the plot’s sharp twist at the end.

- The Long Engagement: Written by Liz Jones and Mike Hind.

Liz Jones did a fine job for a first attempt at writing a full-length play. A young student has moved into an apartment with her extremely laid back, hippie boyfriend much to the ­disappointment of her up tight parents.

While all Daniel ­Edmunds as the hippie ­really had to do was make peace signs and say, “cool man” he did it so well you couldn’t stop laughing at him.

Claire Tonry as the daughter was fun and full of energy but sometimes she would talk up and out into the audience rather than interacting with the other characters which made it a seem little unrealistic.

There is plenty of drama in this amusing play as the daughter beings ­taking on some of the ­family traits.