THE BOOK CLUB

By Diana Simmonds

September 3 2015

THE BOOK CLUB, Ensemble Theatre, 2 September-3 October 2015 (heavily booked). Photography by Thomas Blunt: above and right - Amanda Muggleton.

Anyone who’s been part of a book group will squirm, groan, cringe and cackle at the vividly drawn characters that make up the members of Deb’s little lit club. And Amanda Muggleton is in her element as she brings each one to life and switches back and forth between the…um…friends. 

There’s the insufferable snob whose husband knows David Marr, there’s the one who never reads beyond chapter one but always pronounces it “fascinating”; there’s the one who’s always late and apologetic; and the one who worships David Malouf (they all despise Jeffrey Archer); and of course, there’s the unspoken who-makes-the-best-dessert competition – and so on. 

The play – by Roger Hall and adapted and updated over the years by director/set designer Rodney Fisher - began at the Noosa Long Weekend in 2008 after a try-out at NIDA. The collaboration between Muggleton and Fisher is a happy one and the show has gradually morphed into something more than the entertaining extended book group joke that we saw back then.

Deb’s family life and the literary back stories that she sees in her own reality – from Anna Karenina  to Geraldine Brooks’s March – have now been foregrounded in a way that puts the knock-about comedy into a deeper context. 

Deb lives in and for her books. Her lawyer husband is mostly absent when he’s not watching sports on TV or training for the marathon that is clearly intended to stave off his fears of growing old. Her two daughters have left home and are engrossed in their own lives and aside from fantasising about erotic encounters with Martin Amis, Deb’s life is pretty bleak.

Then she has the bright idea of inviting a local author to come and speak to the group and do a bit of a read from his work in progress. Suddenly her erotic fantasies turn into reality as a “thank you” lunch with Michael morphs into something else.

It’s not a bed of roses, however, and the bitter-sweet irony of much of what transpires sees off any danger of excessive cuteness. Amanda Muggleton is a unique powerhouse of energy and chutzpah. Nothing seems to faze her – even a gent who fell asleep in the front row on opening night and found himself part of the show thereafter – and her willingness to connect with an audience and interact with whatever’s happening is startling and charming.

Director Rodney Fisher gives her room to breathe and roam the stage, which is probably essential for hooking in to the unexpected shifts and twists of the monologue. His set design – ingeniously built on the reverse of the current Mothers and Sons  New York apartment – is a perfect den of Persian carpet, comfy floral sofa and books, books, books. And a top-of-the-range treadmill is now part of the business and affords her companionship in an otherwise amazing feat of memory and performance.

The Ensemble season is already heavily sold and if you want to see and be entertained by a real deal theatre legend: get your skates on and buy tickets now.