THEATRE: 25 NOVEMBER 2017 By GERALDINE WORTHINGTON

High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby | Directed by Neil Gooding

Highway Run Productions and Neil Gooding Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co (www.hayestheatre.com.au) | Hayes Theatre, Potts Point, Sydney | Until 17 December

High Fidelity, written by Nick Hornby in 1995, told the story of Rob Fleming, owner of a record shop, Championship Vinyl, and his difficult love life. Rob’s voice in 1995 narrated to a large audience the feelings of young men of the time, who were traditionally reluctant to articulate their emotions.

In 2000, the novel was adapted into a film, in which Championship Vinyl moved to Chicago and where John Cusack and Jack Black spoke to a wider and more cosmopolitan audience.

Currently, Championship Vinyl is brought to life on the Sydney stage at the Hayes Theatre, where Lauren Peters’ clever production design convincingly stages the store. Further, as the narrative progresses she seamlessly shifts the staging to Rob’s bedroom, the street and club scenes.

The opening scene sees Rob (Toby Francis) at work. His long relationship with Laura (Teagan Wouters) has recently ended, when Laura walked out.

Eventually, as the day progresses, he is joined by part-time workers, Dick (Dash Kruck) and Barry (Joe Kosky), two socially awkward music obsessives who, even though they only work part-time, come to the shop every day.

Customer Marie (Erin Clare) is also a regular at Rob’s store and she invites the three men to her gig, which results in an affair with Rob. However, although Rob likes Marie, he cannot stop thinking about Laura, and furthermore, Laura still phones Rob regularly, even though she is living with his old rival, Ian (Nicholas Christa)!

Rob’s jealously leads him on a quest to discover what has gone wrong in his past relationships, a journey of song-seeking self-discovery. With so much going on, it is surprising that the show lacks pace, but Neil Gooding’s direction changes gear continually and this should be rectified as the show’s run continues.

The songs are certainly all conveyed expertly, but the characters, and their journey, perhaps, because of the passage of time, remain clichéd.

However, the on-stage band, under Andrew Worboys’ tight musical direction, never miss a beat, vigorously navigating us through this lengthy tale.

Ultimately, the voice of Rob and his generation appears, here, lost in translation. Personally, I am off to track down my copy of the novel.

Images: Robert Cato.