THEATRE: 09 FEBRUARY 2019 By GERALDINE WORTHINGTON

The Rise & Fall of Little Voice, by Jim Cartwright | Directed by Shaun Rennie

Darlinghurst Theatre Company (www.darlinghursttheatre.com) | Eternity Playhouse, Darlinghurst | Until 24 February

The Rise & Fall of Little Voice, written by English dramatist Jim Cartwright, was first performed in 1992 and tells the tale of an introverted and isolated teenage girl (Geraldine Hakewill) and her controlling and dominating mother Mari (Caroline O’Connor).

Grief stricken by the relatively recent death of her father, Little Voice spends much of her time secluded in her bedroom listening to his record collection and imitating modern divas — Shirley Bassey, Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland to name just a few.

Meantime, her mother Mari meets small-time club agent Ray Say (Joseph Del Re) and hopes he is her last chance for a better life. Likewise, when Ray Say hears Little Voice sing, he thinks she is his passport to wealth and fame.

In many ways this is a most predictable story-line but significant nods to English playwrights Shelagh Delaney and Arnold Wesker give this drama gravitas.

Furthermore, the key roles are well-written and in Shaun Rennie’s effective production all characters are rendered with authenticity and charisma — Caroline O’ Connor as the merry widow Mari Hoff, Jospeph Del Re as the seedy showbiz promoter Ray Say, and Charles Wu as Little Voice’s one ally, Billy.

Isabel Hudson’s production design works well and looks good, capturing cramped living spaces, isolation and absence of privacy on a split-level set. The play’s most effective storyline, a romantic one between the young and shy electrician, Billy, whose passion is lighting, and our heroine, who hears and replicates voices, their tentative wooing, conducted via his cherry-picker, touchingly shows two solitary romantics coming together.

This is mostly a text about generations, the voicelessness of youth, and how young people are only listened to when they resort to playing by an older age’s tune. 

However, in many ways all of this is overshadowed when Geraldine Hakewill sings, dominating the space in a perfectly pitched performance that steals the show.

Worth a look!

Image: Robert Catto.