REVIEW: PRUFROCK’S LOVE SONG
by T.S. Eliot and E. M. May Dunedin Repertory Society Playhouse Theatre Sunday, November 14
The creative struggles of poet T.S. Eliot are given quick-witted comic treatment in Elsa May’s delightful play Prufrock’s Love Song.
Inspired by the line in Eliot’s famous poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ‘‘in the room the women come and go, talking of Michelangelo’’, the play takes a surprisingly broad-ranging look at modern life.
The lives of today’s women are at the centre of the action, Kimberley Buchan, Miriam Noonan, and May (who also directs) playing a disillusioned art teacher and her students, as they share stories of their love lives at a cafe, while considering the great artist.
All three are spot on, bringing sympathetic characters to life, while keeping a fast flow of banter and modern cultural references running.
Listening and taking inspiration from their words is a frustrated T.S. Eliot, played with aplomb by Paul Ellicott.
His feat of memory in reciting the whole poem, while moving around the stage and accompanied with illustrative and amusing movement by the trio of women, was very impressive.
Well-behaved pup Grizabella had a role too, playing Betty Boo.
A simple set, costume changes and an extraordinary array of props were put to good use keeping the action moving .
At about 75 minutes in length, Prufrock’s Love Song is short, sweet and very entertaining. Recommended.
The show continues at The Playhouse until Saturday, with performances at 7.30pm.
