The Thank You Dinner

November 10th 2008 11:43 pm | Theatre | Review - By Diana Simmonds

You might never go out to dinner again

The Thank You Dinner - A Feast to Remember written and performed by Reg Livermore, Ensemble Theatre, 25 October-7 December and playing at very odd times so check; ring 02 9929 0644 or www.ensemble.com.au

BEWARE Reg Livermore wearing a sweet smile, with an innocent twinkle in his eyes and the milk of human kindness allegedly swilling through his veins. Chances are something wicked and wickedly funny is just around the corner.

As a special 50th anniversary treat for Ensemble audiences, the company has programmed a version of Livermore's 2001 Clarendon (Blue Mountains) hit one-man show The Thank You Dinner. And it really is a treat. This is the one in which he recreates the events leading up to a dinner party held for his neighbours by Roger Garth Lovely.

As you'd expect of someone lumbered at birth with a name that gives out such contradictory messages, Roger is quickly revealed as just a little odd and probably one of those nice boys who are still waiting for the right girl to come along. On the other hand, his sister - sadly never seen - was christened Peascod (fondly nicknamed Peasie) so who knows what kind of upbringing the young Lovelys experienced. As it is Roger is given to excessively flamboyant dressing gowns that nevertheless scarcely hold a candle to his excessively flamboyant personality.

So far, so Livermore as he prowls the stage drawing the audience into his confidence, making instant best friends. Yet it's all in a manner guaranteed to cause nervous conniptions in the stoutest North Shore heart. The man who gave us Frank N Furter and Betty Blok Buster is no puddytat even if he purrs and preens as he prowls. Roger Lovely is deliciously dangerous and just because he lives in the refinement of "old Rose Bay, the English part" there is never any doubt that something ghastly - hilariously ghastly - will eventually transpire.

The story is one which would be familiar to many: Roger has to go to Melbourne on business for a month and asks his three neighbours in the block whether they will be kind enough to pop in and feed his beloved "children" - a cat, a dog and a cockatoo named Dorothy, Nicholas and Birdy respectively. Only the way Roger relates the story, it is neither as straightforward nor as straightforwardly told. Most of the time the audience is in a state of chucklement.

Reg Livermore is a national living treasure of Australian theatre and while that may sound fusty, the fact is the man is a unique talent with a genius for comedy, drama and mischief. In The Thank You Dinner - A Feast to Remember, he is in top form with a script and characters (he also plays the neighbours who come to the dinner of the title) that are vivid, sharp and - by now - in a polished and tight form.

During the quick-as-a-flash 65 minutes you spend in Roger's company you may well guess what he plans for his guests - you may well have guessed already - but rather than spoil the outcome it actually adds a layer of awful, disbelieving, horror - and laughter-struck anticipation.

The Thank You Dinner is a short, sharply amusing entertainment which is also an object lesson in comedy, comedy writing, stagecraft and total naughtiness. It's a delight and as it's also selling fast, you'd better get your skates on.

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