Mad March Hare Theatre’s production at The Old Fitzroy Theatre makes for a very enjoyable evening’s entertainment. Playwright Jonathan Gavin’s script has rich and rapid fire dialogue. The play features seven women and is the story of their friendships.

A MOMENT ON THE LIPS opens with a party where the seven characters display that there is some discord within the group. The drama then backtracks and fills in how the relationships and friendships have ebbed and flowed over the years to reach their current status. The characters reveal themselves in different ways but essentially this was constrained and trivial until an event happened when the veneer of being polite or superficial was dropped and a type of cathartic cleansing takes place.

Mackenzie Steele’s tight direction keeps the story focused as the various aspects of the characters’ personalities are revealed. In this delightful mix of words and characters we have an artist who is the centre of attraction, gives little in return and does not truly know herself. There is an emotionally cold character who puts herself at service to others and subjugates her own requirements. Another character is consumed by her studies, her marriage and her pregnancy to the extent that she is insensitive to the other people in her life. The rest of the cast have different emotional flaws and all struggle to reveal their authentic selves.

Interestingly the characters are not one dimensional and reveal different characteristics depending on who they are with. The exposition of characters is fascinating. The show is a wonderful look at the nature of friendship.

The performances from the cast are consistently strong. Beth Aubrey, Sarah Aubrey, Claudia Barrie, Lucy Goleby, Sonya Kerr, Ainslie McGlynn, Sabryna Te’o make up this fine cast. Set design by Charlie Davis is simple but effective.

I thoroughly recommend A MOMENT ON THE LIPS which is on at THE OLD FITZROY THEATRE, 129 DOWLING ST, WOOLLOOMOOLOO until 12th April.

For more about A MOMENT ON THE LIPS, visit http://www.madmarchtheatreco.com/