Have you ever felt like you were doomed? That every path you took in life was the wrong one, that you were not only unlucky in love, but in your career, you life, as if there was some otherworldly force determining your every move?
Is it superstition, or are some people born under a dark cloud unable to succeed despite their best efforts?
This is the theme that plagues Lewis (Travis Cotton) who also wrote and directed the piece. A wannabe novelist turned theatre reviewer he manages to lose his girlfriend, his job and his freedom throughout the play which is, as it says 80 minutes long with no interval, an inside joke of the theatre and a desperate request of Claire (Tamzen Hayes), Lewis’s girlfriend who tires of his hard luck life and wanky theatre talk.
All she asks for is a simple narrative, no nonsense. Unfortunately for the audience what we receive is the complete opposite. As Lewis fails at every curveball life throws at him, we cringe at the comedy of errors that is his destiny.
80 minutes No Interval misses the mark just as Lewis fumbles his way through the piece. The theatre jokes are sometimes clumsy and unfortunately wear thin pretty quickly. There are some absolute moments of brilliance however, Robin Goldsworthy’s fishing mime is champagne comedy at it finest and he plays the crude publicist Dan Kurtz with a commitment that makes the audience love to hate him.
Tom O’Sullivan delivers a wonderful performance throughout, tying the piece together as the stoic and sassy waiter who seems to follow Lewis, and is a voice of reason in an otherwise farcical world.
There is much to like about 80 Minutes No Interval, it is a humorous in-joke of the theatre world. However Lewis’s bad luck becomes exhausting and there is no pay off for either the protagonist or the audience, which leaves us somewhat unsatisfied.
Hot Mess Productions presents
80 Minutes No Interval
by Travis Cotton
Director Travis Cotton
Venue: Theatre Works | Acland Street St Kilda VIC
Dates: 21 November – 2 December 2018
Tickets: $35.50 – $47.50
Bookings: theatreworks.org.au | 03 9534 3388
