Ramblings about After Dinner featuring Nathan Page
Set in the Crest Hotel somewhere…
The set at the end of the play. The table on the left was Dympie, Paula and Monica’s table and the one on the right, Stephen and Martin’s.
The painting according to Martin was a Matisse. Raised one of the biggest laughs of the evening.
The doors saw the many comings and goings of the evening - visits to the toilets and the bar and the magnificent entrance of Monica later in the evening.
Before Stephen arrives Martin and Paula have chatted and seem to hit it off.
Here we have Stephen and Martin meeting for the first time. Both are mutual friends of Brendan who was to join them. He never came. Martin apparently had been waiting for almost 2 hours, drinking just water. Stephen amazed, asked “You sick? On antibiotics? ” Martin “No”. It seems Martin is not a drinker but as Stephen said “One or two can’t hurt”. Stephen goes off to get beers.
Back to the ladies …. Paula has passed comment on Dympie’s wrinkled stockings and Dympie has told Paula her make-up is too bold and the hood on her dress is most odd! Monica is finding it all too much and rushes off to the toilet. Paula follows to make sure she is OK
Stephen returns with beers. Martin has already been introduced to the ladies so Stephen decides he will introduce himself to the one left at the table - Dympie. His swagger and chat are a joy to behold. Unfortunately he gets it wrong - he thinks Dympie is the widow. He goes back to Martin happy that their evening is sorted, after all that’s what he came for - ‘to chase some skirt’ !! So smooth - “If you need anything we’re just over here” - sexy voice.
Martin then unburdens himself to Stephen saying he was so looking forward to going out with Brendan and Stephen - happy to have men to talk to. Stephen panics saying he didn’t come out on a Friday night to talk! Another misunderstanding - Stephen believes Martin is a homosexual. Martin puts him right but unfortunately Dympie has been listening and tells Paula when she returns. Paula is disappointed.
Meanwhile, Monica appears to have disappeared but when she returns - magnificently I might add - she is drunk!!
She tells of her adventures …. falling into the most beautiful green rock pool where fishes swam and of the fishermen with their fishing rods. She was in a room where men were twirling her round and round, back and forward until she was sick on one of them! ….. She sits and something falls out of her bag - a pool ball. Asked what is that she replies “ a fish” and then kisses it. The dawning on the audience that her pool is a pool table complete with balls and cues is great. A truly great performance by Elena Carapetis. A highlight!
What follows is her revealing her thoughts on her marriage in all its explicit glory. There are tears - not for the fact she has lost her husband, but that she didn’t lose him sooner.
Then Monica decides she wants to dance - no music yet - but she wants to dance so she grabs Paula and on the other side Dympie grabs Paula’s other hand to stop her and a ‘tug of war’ follows. Enter Stephen and Martin. Stephen tries to grab Monica and Martin likewise with Dympie. Monica lets go and Stephen is thrown backwards over the table in the corner, rolls over (congrats to athletic Nathan) and lands on top of Monica. Unfortunately I only ever watched these two, totally unaware of what happened to Dympie and Martin. Apparently they ended up in a similar position.
Dinner has been served and eaten. Paula has cream on her face after dessert. Stephen goes across to the ladies to see that all is OK and has a chat about dinner. He had the oysters …
Monica has made her choice. … and will soon remove her wedding ring. Hope you don’t mind me borrowing your photo @geenee27. It is rather good!!!
Back to revelations from Stephen and Martin. Martin talks of his failed marriage. Stephen feels able to talk freely to Martin about his own ‘problems’ of premature ejaculation and his way of trying to prevent it by fantasizing about Mrs Hazelmere, his teacher at school. Just as she was about to touch him his mother would turn up to collect him and he would lose his erection. As Martin said “at least that solves your problem of premature ejaculation!! Martin was getting bolder as the drink flowed.
Stephen, also emboldened, asked Martin about the size of his penis. Martin indicated length and confessed to being ‘average’ and this being one of the reasons his wife left him. Stephen smugly declared he was apparently ‘above average’ !!!!
Back to the ladies … Paula discovers she has cream on her face from her dessert and is upset that Dympie hasn’t told her. She lashes out and tells Dympie what she is known as at work….. Dumpy Dympie…. and that no one likes her.
Music finally strikes up and Monica and Paula decide to ask Stephen and Martin if they could join them as they have a better view of the band. They leave Dympie on her own. Stephen is quick to rearrange the chairs and pour the wine. Martin is sent for a new bottle.
Great scene follows with the band playing 'Boys light up’. Some great moves from Stephen and Monica, who voices all the words.
Then the band strikes up with 'Lady in Red’. Paula looks expectantly at Stephen but Monica asks him to dance with her.
This follows…. look at those hands holding her safely! Paula and Martin have been watching and chatting. She broaches the subject of Martin’s homosexuality! “Everyone thinks I’m a homosexual today” but he tells her is not. Happy result. They decide to dance too but as they get to the dance floor the music stops. Meanwhile …. smooching! Other things may have happened elsewhere - but I wasn’t aware! I happened to be sitting in the smooching corner … albeit the smoochers were on stage. I was close though!
New song - 'I wanna be where love is’ or whatever the title is. Everyone dancing except Dympie. Well, I say dancing - Martin had to be seen to be believed.
Dympie, abandoned and complaining about not being able to see, clambers up onto her table and shouts “I can see the band ……I am the loneliest person in the world..” She climbs slowly down and sits sadly at their table.
The kindhearted Paula asks Martin to dance with Dympie, who still believing him to be a homosexual, comes up with the line “ as long as you don’t get any saliva on me”
Meanwhile Monica has decided to take Stephen to his bed - dirty sheets and all. (He does have clean ones if she changes her mind)
As they leave Stephen tells Martin not to do anything he wouldn’t do - Martin pointedly agrees and tells Stephen to give his regards to Mrs Hazelmere. Stephen laughs it off and he leaves with Monica.
The play ends with Martin dancing with Dympie but looking all the time at Paula.
PS After the production on Friday I had been invited backstage by the Stage Manager for a brief tour of the set.
Writ large on paper at the point where they entered the doors on to stage:
'Nathan. Have you got your credit card?’ - Stephen takes a credit card out of his jacket pocket to pay the bill
'Ellen is your hood up?’ - to make sure we could see the dress had a hood as this was a topic of conversation.
'Jude are your stockings wrinkled?’- The wrinkled stockings referred to the fact that Dympie’s stockings were always wrinkled and Paula tried to persuade her to get a smaller size and a different colour - black instead of bone!!
The markings on the stage where the 'slap’ took place. Dympie accidentally slapped Paula actually meaning to hit Monica to stop her crying uncontrollably.
Some of the tables were bolted down - the one Dympie climbed upon and the one Stephen rolled across. That one was also padded - fortunately for Nathan.
The 'Matisse’ was painted by the set artist.
A local carpet retailer was thrilled to get rid of so many lime green carpet tiles! Some were looking a little worse for wear with drink spilled on them.
I hope this makes sense and for those of you who were there too I hope I’ve got it more or less right and obviously I haven’t included everything! There were distractions - well just the one really.
It was also lovely to see Nathan’s partner there for the final performance on Sunday.
