Playwright: Dion Boucicault
Director: Gale Edwards
Cast: Marcus Graham, Veronica Neave, Paul Bishop, Helen Thomson, Anne Looby, Mark Owen-Taylor, Bob Hornery, Philip Holder, Jonathan Hardy, Joan Sydney, Christopher Baz, Paul Tolton, Timothy Aris, Ross Anderson, Bruce Gladwin, Peta Masters, Genevieve Morris
Season and venue: MTC, Playhouse, to December 23
Synopsis: hero thwarts villain amid sprawling mayhem
Rating: 5 stars
The Shaughraun is one of the most exuberant and splendidly executed melodramas to hit Melbourne in years - even if you may not be able to pronounce its name, nor have ever heard of its playwright.
A 50 minute delay on opening night was little surprise given the complexity of designer Dale Ferguson's magnificent revolving set. The wait was well worthwhile - this production, under the sure hand of director Gale Edwards, is a comic gem which radiates energy and flair.
It's the story of a villain (Bob Hornery) who lies and cheats his way almost to the fortune of dashing hero Robert Ffolliott (Paul Bishop).
Fortunately for our hero, he has canny spright, Conn the Shaughraun (Marcus Graham) on his team, along with sundry clever women such as his girlfriend Arte (Helen Thomson), her cousin Claire (Anne Looby) and the Shaughraun's own girlfriend, Moya (Veronica Neave).
TV heart throb Graham's razor sharp comic timing is matched only by his athletic agility and irreverent sense of humor. The audience adores him from the moment he first tumbles onto the stage.
Mark Owen-Taylor as the English officer who pursues the Shaughraun's friend Robert has a genius for deadpan satire as he wends his way through the eccentricities of the English gentleman.
While, perhaps surprisingly, he has no black moustache to twirl, Hornery's villain Corry Kinchella is well padded with corrupt guile.
The three heroines are at once both pure and playfully alluring. Amid these clearly drawn lead characters cavorts a large number of strong supporting players ranging from the hero's long-suffering priest father (Jonathan Hardy) to the Shaughraun's vigorously over-dramatising mother (Joan Sydney).
This really is ensemble team work at its very finest. Director Edwards has a keen eye for a well-lit dramatic tableaux, taming the soaring scale and seemingly inexhaustible variety of Ferguson's ingenious set.
While the visual tricks give the production the strong sense of lush Irish location it needs, the comic charisma is never ushered from the foreground.
In short, this is a rollicking cocktail of success with not a single performance under-developed, nor a moment that lacks comic verve and intelligence.