DAYLIGHT SAVING @ THE GUILD THEATRE, ROCKDALE

The starting point to Nick  Enright’s DAYLIGHT SAVING is unremarkable.  The play takes place in March 1989 around the time when Daylight Saving is about to end for another year.

A middle class North Shore couple, Tom and Felicity, are struggling to find time together. Tom, a high profile sports agent, is always travelling overseas to cater to the whims of his clients. He is about to head off and  Felicity- nicknamed Flick- chides him, again.

Enright packs in interesting plot lines, farcical situations, quirky characters and zingy one liners to keep audiences well entertained up to a very neat finishing line.                        

There are two main narrative lines. One narrative line follows a dinner catch up Felicity has with an old school friend, Josh, who lives in America now, but is just visiting Sydney and saw her on television being interviewed about the restaurant she runs. Josh turns up at Felicity’s and there is that question simmering in the background, will they or won’t they spend the night together?

The other plot line relates to what Tom will do about his super brat tennis star Jason Strutt who takes up so much of his time. Will Tom find the fortitude to enforce some limits to his behaviour?

This latest  revival of one of Enright’s most  popular works, first performed at Kirribilli’s Ensemble theatre in 1989, is given a  warm production by Director Lyn Lee.

Lee wins great  performances from  a good cast  who keep their focus throughout, and take on Enright’s characters with style.

This is the play with  one of my favourite  Enright characters, tennis superstar and super brat, Jason Strutt. No doubt, Enright drew his inspiration for this character from John McEnroe. Brayden Palmer makes the most of his  comic role. One scene has him storm into the Finn’s apartment as if he owns the place with miso soup and other trendy delicacies.

Tye Barnes and Rosemary Ghazzi come are believable as the troubled, time poor middle-class couple, Tom and Felicity Finn.

As their ever intrusive, self absorbed neighbour Stephanie, Susan Stapleton gives a pleasing performance.

Deidre Campbell is good as Flick’s nosy, a little bit batty mother, Bunty.

Haki Pepo Olu Crisden is great as the smooth, Walt Whitman quoting Joshua Makepeace (Enright loved coming up with quirky names for his characters).

David Ponton and Pauline Randall’s  late nineteen eighties set of Tom and Flick’s apartment is well laid out.

There’s no issue at all with turning back the time when you have as  pleasing a play and a production as this one. Lyn Lee’s production of Nick Enright’s DAYLIGHT SAVING opened at the Theatre Guild, Rockdale on Friday 15th February and is playing and plays until Sunday 9th March, 2019.