Red Phoenix Theatre and Goodwood Theatre & Studios present the South Australian premiere of ‘The Thunderbolt’, written by Arthur Wing Pinero.
Not strictly a feminist story, ‘The Thunderbolt’ does have feminist themes. Set in 1908, society was seeing an emergence of the “new woman” – women who were striking out to achieve their own education, money, and life beyond the societal expectations of being a wife. Helen is the heroine, setting the example of such a woman at the time.
Helen is an illegitimate child getting her education and becoming an independent woman. Her world is turned upside down when she finds out her loving father, Edward, has passed away – and his will is nowhere to be found. Elisha Johnson brings the calm but intelligent Helen to life with her steadfast and consistent performance, playing the loving daughter with care as Helen navigates Edward’s family. The family which has not had the chance to get to know Helen before now. When we are introduced to the family, they have already begun planning how to divide Edward’s extensive properties and funds amongst themselves … without including Helen.
Michael Eustice, Steve Marvanek, and Joshua Coldwell are completely engaging with their roles of Edward’s two younger brothers and his brother-in-law, respectively. Commanding the room from their opening lines, hilarious with their reactions, every delivery felt natural and perfectly executed.
Annie Matsouliadis, Katie Packer, and Anne Doherty play dutiful wives, supporting their husbands and their ideas, and perfectly encapsulating the mean girl essence towards those not in their inner circle. Their humour, reactions, and mutterings add depth and a level of realism to each scene they grace.
Malcolm Walton and Jai Pearce bring some calm to the family, offering legal advice as they try to do the right thing by Edward. Their performances are steady and charming, as are Akira Hockley Miric and Tim Williams with their roles, which they portray with grace.
Jessica Corrie and Leighton Vog have the immense job of portraying stress, anxiety, and desperation – all of which they pull off with their fantastic physical and vocal skill sets. Their performances, both separately and together, will tug at your heartstrings.
Away from the actors, the stage lighting was simple but clearly well considered, with well-timed drops between scenes. The set design was elegant, and each set change was blocked out within an inch of its life, with backstage assistants and actors working and weaving together seamlessly. There were no sound issues, aside from the occasional quietly delivered line, which was infrequent and subtly adjusted with the actors following line.
The costumes were artful, well-fitted for each individual actor, and reminiscent of the fashion of the time. This author was pleasantly surprised to see the costumes for the married couples on the stage had matching colour schemes – a simple but visually striking way for the audience to keep track of the relationships with minimal effort.
‘The Thunderbolt’ is as relevant and witty today as it was in 1908. It runs for two hours with a 20 minute interval.
To book tickets to The Thunderbolt, please visit https://www.redphoenixtheatre.com/season/.