Dimboola (play)

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Dimboola is a play by the Australian author Jack Hibberd. It premiered in 1969 at La Mama Theatre under the direction of Graeme Blundell.

Contents

[edit] History

The play grew out of a reading in London of Anton Chekhov's The Wedding and Bertolt Brecht's farce Die Kleinbürgerhochzeit. The production at La Mama was supported by a grant of $1 250 from the Australia Council for the Arts. The second production by the Australian Performing Group at the Pram Factory in 1973 was directed by David Williamson.

More Australians have seen Dimboola than any other stage musical, comedy or straight play, and hundreds of productions have been mounted across the world. It ran in Sydney for 2½ years until the venue, the Wisky au Go Go, burned down. In 1979, a film was made directed by John Duigan. In 1988, Pat Garvey adapted the play for a musical which alone has played over 2 000 performances.[1] In 2007, it was produced at the Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, with Max Gillies and directed by Michael Kantor. In March 2008 the play will be revived at the La Mama Theatre, directed by Robert Chuter.

[edit] Performance practice

The play uses audience participation to a very high degree; audience members are greeted by the father of the bride and the new arrivals are announced to the audience. Glasses of sherry and food are served by the actors, the auditorium is set up with tables and decorated with ballons and streamers. Audience members are assigned characters and actors improvise with them during the play's fights and shenanigans. The alcohol consumed on stage is often real.

[edit] Cast

  • At the official table:
    • Maureen Delaney (Reen), just-married bride
    • Morrie McAdam (Morrie), her husband (Bruce Spence)
    • Darcy Delaney (Darkie), the father of the bride
    • April Delaney (June), mother of the bride
    • Angus McAdam (Knocka), father of the groom
    • Florence McAdam (Florrie), mother of the groom
    • Patrick O'Shea, parish priest
    • Daryl Dunn (Dangles), best man
    • Shirl, town bike & bridesmaid
    • Astrid McAdam, flower girl
  • Guests (invited)
    • Horace McAdam (Horrie the Horrible), uncle of the groom
    • Mavis McAdam, aunt of the groom
    • Aggie McAdam, spinster cousin to the McAdams
  • Guests (uninvited)
  • The Band
    • Lionel Driftwood And His Piledrivers
  • Others
    • Leonardo Radish, reporter of the Mildura Trumpet – a caricature of the theatre critic and playwright Leonard Radic
Original actors in brackets; other actors in the premiere production were Lindy Davies and John Romeril.[2]

[edit] Plot

Place: The Mechanics' Institute Hall in Dimboola, Victoria

In short: Two families, one Protestant and one Catholic, share a riotous wedding.

Dimboola is a Rabelaisian and rumbustious celebration of the wedding of Morrie McAdam—a protestant, to Reen Delaney—a catholic. No holds are barred as the two families come together for the wedding which Jack Hibberd calls: "the testing of strengths of the newly conjugated tribes". The family members try to preserve social grace and dignity in the face of impending disasters. And disasters there are a plenty! After the drink has flowed a little too freely, mayhem and humour ensues when the families exchange insults and punches, as they resolve to come to terms with the situation.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Our Services. Pat Garvey Enterprise. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
  2. ^ Whant's On. Theatre Alive (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
  3. ^ from a widely publicised programme note