Louis (Ryan Johnson) is a failed writer who makes a living as a theatre critic. His life, we discover, has a curse upon it and he is doomed to not do well. His newspaper editor has found a Red Box that runs on an algorithm to write perfect reviews and so sacks him. His girlfriend, Claire (Sheridan Harbridge) is tired of his ineptness and his hesitation of living a normal life as husband and father with a normal job. Her comic rant on the theatre that she has endured with him is a masterpiece of comic satire, delivered by Ms Harbridge with a ‘killer’ comic skill. His parents, played with a withering comic eye by Mr Goldsworthy and Ms Harbridge, want their investment property back and need him to pay his back-rent, and to vacate, forthwith. He finds an editor at last, Dan Kurtz (Mr Goldsworthy), interested in publishing his latest novella, but only after changes, and that is when fate really turns to ‘shit’. \u00a0But despite the horrors of a twenty year jail term for a crime he did not commit he still has kept writing. Only hours after leaving jail, carrying his hand written plays, he takes a romantic u-turn into a flower shop, and then … !<\/p>\n Ms Harbridge, Mr Goldsworthy play a number of persona with true comic aplomb. Jacob Allen is wryly amusing as a professional waiter, and Julia Rorke gives a performance as Mathilde, the flower shop girl, that is either wonderfully crafted naivety or horribly inexperienced performing – I couldn’t divine which it was, and one couldn’t help but think of some of the actresses Charlie Chaplin used for his heroines, to great effect: e.g. Virginia Cherrill in City Lights<\/em> (1931), and she too works in a florist shop. Whichever it is, it is a fascinating stroke of genius from Mr Cotton in the casting of this young woman, for it works in the most tender way. Mr Cotton’s hero, Louis, the straight adventurer of this tale, is sustained with a gifted generosity of the dead-pan by Ryan Johnson – a quiet and attractive performance.<\/p>\n Georgia Hopkins is the production designer and pulls a wonderful surprise in the latter part of the play after presenting a fairly austere and pragmatic look to the early sequences of the play. Here she is aided and abetted by Ross Graham with his early strict lighting palette that blooms into astonishing beauty with Ms Hopkins’ coup de theatre. Hamish Michael has Composed (with Hue Blanes) and created a sound design of tremendous intricacy and wit, such that it becomes as important a comic element as the actors’ contribution – sections of the play are sustained with just the wizardry of the sound. A tremendous feat.<\/p>\n Mr Cotton in his director’s notes says in the concluding paragraph:<\/p>\n “Most importantly, thanks to my family in Melbourne for supporting me to come up here and put on this show. It means the world to me.”<\/p>\n![\"80-Minutes-No-Interval-01\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/80-Minutes-No-Interval-01.jpg?resize=560%2C311\")
Mr Cotton’s new play is simply a wonder. The plotting is surprising, the jokes are rapid fire (and often very smart), the characters are hilarious and the twist to his tale extraordinarily beautiful. But Mr Cotton has also directed it and employed a variety of comic techniques that cross over into many genres and reaps laughter for not only the aptness of the styles in use but also because of the audacity and detailed discipline of their execution with his hardworking actors (Movement by Scott Witt). Given that the last play I saw of Mr Cotton’s was Robots vs Art<\/em>, which he also directed, and remembering how tight I thought that was, while not much liking the playwriting itself, 80 Minutes No Interval<\/em>, is quite a considerable leap forward.<\/p>\n![\"80-Minutes-No-Interval-02\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/80-Minutes-No-Interval-02.jpg?resize=560%2C313\")
Mr Cotton has written and directed a very marvellous work, a surprisingly original black-comic whimsy that dazzles as much as it delights. I thoroughly recommend attendance. Of course, comedy is the hardest theatre form because it will always be a matter of taste (and mood) – I loved it and hope that you might too. Certainly, \u00a0here is a playwright that has been persisting for yonks around the fringes of our theatre world and I believe with this work deserves a break out into the Big Time. Belvoir and Sydney Theatre Company take a look. Please.<\/p>\n