Review - The Sweet Delilah Swim Club: a fun night out
By Lilian Harrington
The Sweet Delilah Swim Club
By Jones Hope Wooten
Directed by Jacqueline Kerr
Villanova Players
Ron Hurley Centre, Seven Hills
Season has ended
Popular American writers Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten, collectively known as Jones, Hope Wooten, are three of the most widely produced playwrights in the USA! They write funny laugh-out-loud comedies which focus on women in strong roles. They have developed such a wide following across America they have been dubbed "America's Playwrights."
Their list of credits can be seen in films, TV series, and stage shows. Jessie Jones is known for Dearly Departed and Kingdom Come; Emmy-Award winner, Nicholas Hope is known for Teachers Pet, a Disney Television Series, and Jamie Wooten is known for his work in Music, TV and film, and in Australia for the TV series The Golden Girls and The Five Mrs Buchanans. They have written for celebrities such as: Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg, Betty White, Jack Black, Debbie Reynolds, LL Cool J, Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Tyne Daly, Bea Arthur, Louie Anderson, Taraji P. Henson, George Burns, RuPaul, Dolly Parton and others.
The Villanova Players Production of The Sweet Delilah Swim Club, directed by Jacqueline Kerr, tells the story of five women who were coached together as part of a swim team and who continued to meet every year, for a weekend away; this has been their routine for over 30 years (1983-2013). They have followed each other’s lives and shared their experiences. They always meet in August at a holiday house “The Sweet Delilah”, in Georgia, Alabama, by the sea, and rekindle their friendship.
It takes a special group of artists to create and capture the team work needed for this play as every member of the team brings their own uniqueness and story to share with the others. I believe the director has managed to do this, because the production is well cast. The group of experienced actors worked very well together. Many directors approach production development in different ways, depending on the background experience and school of thought, Kerr has thought to practice a hands-on approach, so in order to catch the full experience of what the characters would feel and experience on a weekend away the “girls” commenced rehearsals with their own weekend away.
All actors used a practised Southern American accent, however, at times this accent was hard to follow especially for those seated further back in the theatre, and so, at times it was difficult to hear the dialogue clearly; Further, the use of atmospheric lighting effects, did not make it always easy to see some of the expressions on the actor’s faces because they were left unlit in the dark, however, the movement and energy was well thought out throughout.
The production crew lead by Lucy Moxon, created a classy “beach- house” and the stage management under Trevor Bond and Desley Nichols ran smoothly. The costumes worn were appropriate to the era, however, it would‘ve been nice to see gradual changes to the set over the 30 year period, as indicated on the overheads, and not just at the end of Act 2.
All actors gave strong performances, and each represented a community character that audience could relate to e.g. a lawyer, a nun, an accident prone mother, an unstable social trend setter; mention needs to be given to Sheree, played by Jane Binstead, leader and organiser of the swim team, and Lexie (Vivian Broadbent), the one who needed all “the plastic life style changes” to keep up appearances and stay looking younger. Many were left laughing at the twists and turns in the action, but it seems American humour has a different focus from ours, so at times, the timing, and pace could have been sharper, despite this it was a fun night out and this production flowed well.