Last night I was excited to yet again to visit Wanneroo’s Limelight theatre to see their comedy The Viewing Room. I’m a huge fan of Limelight, I love the variety of productions that they put on each year and the heartfelt community that they have built.
The Viewing Room is a play by little known American playwright Mark Smith and director Tim Riessen actually staged this one back in 2020 at Joondalup Encore Theatre Society (JETS). It promised lots of laughs and an exploration into the themes of family and reconciliation and I was intrigued to see what they had up their sleeve this time.
As the curtains opened we see the set of the play – a funeral parlour viewing room in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Hats off to Set Designers Charlotte Weber and Peta Anderson and the Limelight Theatre ‘Setbusters’ who’s creativity absolutely nailed the tone and vibe of a funeral parlour – which immediately took me back to the last time I was in a viewing room!
We open on character Matthew Dumbrosky played by Doryan Kurtovic who is grieving his father’s death and the complexity’s that come with losing a parent. Kurtovic who has a passion for accents – gave the Massachusetts accent a really good go and I was impressed by his attempt. What I would say though, was that at times his articulation was unclear and hard to understand which left me missing some of the jokes at times.
Marie O’Brien as funeral director Jay Hollerback gave me a smile as soon as she came of stage. Her costuming (by Shelley McGinn) was on point and I loved everything from her gait to her matter of fact take on her character Funeral Director Jay Hollerback.
Rex Gray has been cast at the family patriarch Chester Dumbrosky who rises from the dead to torment and ‘clear things up’ with his wife and 5 grown children. Gray should be commended on his clear strong, clear and articulate voice, mixed with a great stage presence.
Chester’s wife Florence Dumbrosky is played by Julie Holmshaw and she is clearly irritated that he is back to annoy her, especially because she has just managed to get on with her life. Holmshaw gave the standout performance of the cast and handle the comedy so well. I especially loved the (on purpose) mispronunciation of words that gave a lot of laughs!
The remaining sibling – the two daughters played by Mary Angus and Diane Campbell as well as the two son’s played by Michael Balmer and Jeremy Darling were a tight knit cast, with each character being so relatable as part of every dysfunctional family we know.
This script had some great thought provoking moments about what goes unsaid when someone dies and if the damage we can do as parents is ever repairable or redeemable. I did find though, that the script probably still needed some work and had the cast working extra hard because of this.
Limelight Theatre gives a range of actors a shot up on stage – from WAAPA grads to those newer or revisiting the stage after a long hiatus – which I just love. Community theatre is ultimately about giving every one a chance to shine on stage no matter who they are or what their experience is and Limelight does just this.
Overall I would like to commend Limelight Theatre again on another solid production and I am so excited to see their next one – The Vicar of Dibley coming in November.
The Viewing Room closes September 27th of September.
To book tickets to The Viewing Room, please visit https://www.taztix.com.au/event/limelight/.
