Dumped. It happens to women all the time, but when Angela's husband ditches her for a succession of younger women, she's no better prepared than most. With sudden singleness come loneliness and a heap of other miseries: money worries, awful jobs, solitary attempts at holidays, social insecurity, disastrous dates, gruesome seductions and glimpses of a bleak and unloved future. My Brilliant Divorce
Playhouse Theatre
Geraldine Aron's one-woman comedy is fairly recent (2001), but its Bridget Jones theme and feel make it seem a little dated.
This is compensated for, though, by the appeal of its character: Angela is by turns dotty, resourceful, often totally misguided, and funny.
Elsa May brings charm and comic skill to the part, and her performance makes the audience identify with and care about her character The Dunedin Repertory Society's production, directed by Lewis Ablett-Kerr, features a stylish set depicting Angela's middle-class living-room.
Recorded voices of significant people in Angela's life - her conventional and disapproving mother, the ex-husband she's taken to calling "Roundhead", and the generally useless people on the other ends of help-lines - provide variety, and there's an ingenious solution to the problem of having a dog on stage.
While this is good girls' night-out material, just about anyone can identify with Angela's predicament and enjoy the show. The season runs until September 1.
- Barbara Frame
