Review: Four flat whites in Italy
There’s no doubt that Circa puts on a great Roger Hall and this iteration of Four flat whites in Italy is no exception. It crackles with energy and fair zips through the action. Here’s the story – Adrian (Stuart Devenie) and Alison (Darien Takle) – art gallery attending, book reading, Labour voters – are about to take the trip of a lifetime to Italy with their friends. Unfortunately the male bestie injures himself, so they end up going with Harry (Tim Gordon) and Judy (Vivien Bell) – wine drinking, well-off, National voters. Cue misunderstandings, adjustments, gentle and not so gentle teasing, and a pretty fair description of what that holiday would be like. The cast is rounded out by Heather O’Carroll and Simon Vincent who play every other character. (Special mention to O’Carroll’s Eastern European maid, and Vincent’s Gladiator, plus their amorous car rental couple. Hilarious. Oh, and their villa-owning couple. Sweet.) There’s nothing too challenging in the script so it’s an easy watch with plenty of laughs. (More laughs if you are the demographic that this play is aimed at, but still some to be had if you’re not.)
The coolest thing about this play is that it will be offered as an audio described performance on 5 October at 2pm. “Audio description is a technique that allows blind and visually impaired audience members to enjoy a live theatre performance. Those who require it will be given a headset, through which a narrator will talk during the presentation, describing what is happening on the stage during the natural pauses in the dialogue. A touch tour will be offered before the performance, to give blind and visually impaired audience members the chance to “see” the set and costumes.” Fantastic work Circa.
- Four flat whites in Italy on at Circa to 7 October