Theatre Review Written By: Bernadette Kelly
Position: Arts Journalist
Publication Stage Whispers
Dated: August 1998

With Three Shorts, Darren Brealey has written an eclectic mixture of observations that manage, somehow, to connect. Prior to the show, presented at Collingwood’s Workhouse Theatre, a complimentary glass of champagne and a friendly welcome helped to atone for a chilly evening.

Disturbing Mavis

First on the program was Disturbing Mavis. Directed by Shaun Oxley, this is a look at the practical side of growing old, and the not-so-attractive consequences. Elizabeth Penny is convincing as the bored and slightly confused elderly woman, living in a nursing home with her husband, Alfred, played by Jamie Wilson. Mavis fills the boredom of her days by reading and engaging in one-sided arguments with an inert Alfred. When ambulance officers and nurse arrive to take Alfred away, we discover the reason for Alfred’s inertia and witness Mavis’s frustration and helplessness. This scene could have included some dialogue from the nurse. Her mute compassion let in an air of implausibility that threatened to permeate the rest of the storyline. Overall, Disturbing Mavis was a sad but all too often accurate portrayal of the treatment of aged citizens ...more