Brisbane review - Intimate and Accomplished Theatre Beckons

By  Lilian Harrington

Production: Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune

Writer: Terrence McNally

Company: Ad Astra

Director: Fiona Kennedy

Assistant Director: Prue Robb

Location: Pluto Theatre, Ad Astra 210 Petrie Tce. Brisbane

Season: October 29 – November 22

Weeknights 8 pm and Weekends 7 30pm Mat. 2 pm

Bookings: Try booking

With great excitement and expectation Ad Astra has opened its first show in their newly renovated intimate Pluto Black Box Theatre, with American, Terrence McNally’s play, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune.  This is a two -hander well-directed by Fiona Kennedy and cleverly portrayed by two accomplished actors Nathaniel Currie and Candice Hill.

The play is set in the late 1980’s, in New York, and takes place in “the wee small hours”, when Frankie and Johnny, return to Frankie’s apartment, after a first date, to make love and spend the night together. It becomes very intense when Frankie (Candice Hill) cannot make a firm decision on whether she wants to continue the relationship with Johnny (Nathaniel Currie), who has fallen in love with her.

They are both vulnerable and wary of each other, because they have experienced difficult, irreparable relationships in the past. Frankie’s experiences have left her scarred, while Johnny’s past has left him a father without his kids and an ex -con, who’s spent time inside. He now works as a short order cook in a New York Diner, where Frankie works as a waitress.

 While Frankie hesitates, Johnny realizes he has found his “Brigadoon” and Frankie is the one who he wants to spend his life with. He wants to make this moment last and so he endeavors to “seize it.” He realizes that Frankie comes with some challenges. The intense adult themes, sex references, and nudity, only serve to emphasize the difficulties that exist between the two. It highlights the baggage that they each carry around with them, and their basic inner need to find a strong connection with a loving human companion.  Their actions are passionate and intimate, witty and romantic, along with an awkwardness that the audience can relate to when Frankie loses her cool over small issues, which are blown out of proportion.

The stage production was complimented by a 1980’s style set and costume design, along with clever lighting and subtle sound effects. Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune is a must see for adult thespians; it offers intimate and accomplished theatre.