Ronald Hardwood’s ‘Quartet’ is a play that portrays the humorous side of old age. It spins an uplifting tale about not letting a silly thing like old age get in the way of living. Presented by Queensland Theatre Company and starring Christine Amor, Andrew MacFarlane, Trevor Stuart and Kate Wilson as forgetful Cissy, heart-broken Reggie, flirty Wilfred and lifelong diva Jean. Four members of an opera quartet now in a retirement home for musicians.
Quartet utilises tension throughout the whole play from Jean and Reggie not talking to each other to the friction between the whole entire group. Cissy creates tension by giving the surprise news that Jean will be joining them in the nursing home and Wilf seems happy but this news does not please Reggie as there was previous tension between them and even more so when Jean walks on the stage and Reggie won’t answer her he instead turns his back on her and complains about not getting bloody marmalade at breakfast this could be because of their background and being married for only one day because something happened that neither of the two wanted to happen. Along with the tension between Reggie and Jean there is tension between Jean and Cissy where Jean thinks she is better than Cissy and tries to belittle her by saying things that hurt Cissy’s feelings in the scene where they are getting dressed and Jean says to Cissy she could never fit into the outfit because she is too big. They all believe that if they get back together and sing again that the ‘good old days’ will return and they will get past all the tension but what doesn’t help is a tension of mystery where Jean refuses to sing and the other three don’t know why this is until the end where she accepts it and finally sings because the others come up with a plan to help her get over her fear and voice being bad by singing as terrible. Quartet also utilises human context and shows the roles of each character as Reggie is the young and fit and shows this in his walk of being a little quick but stops to think about things …show more content…
It feels like you could step on to the set of Quartet and feel like you were part of it and it was just normal life. Reggie and Jean being married and then breaking up connects to real life issues and happens to people. People getting old and staying friends shows that even though you grow up doesn’t mean friendships end or old groups break up. It also connects to real people and makes everyone feel this issues can happen to anyone in real life and we will all encounter these issues.
Overall the play of Quartet was comedic, perverted and sometimes formal. It also kept the audience going with witty remarks that some of the audience could connect to. Quartet showed tension, human context and realism throughout that helped convey dramatic meaning of the play which meant growing old doesn’t mean having to grow up. The actors portrayed their characters well and made everyone feel like they were actually these characters. Everything in the play was realistic and believable as everything that happened could happen in real
Quartet utilises tension throughout the whole play from Jean and Reggie not talking to each other to the friction between the whole entire group. Cissy creates tension by giving the surprise news that Jean will be joining them in the nursing home and Wilf seems happy but this news does not please Reggie as there was previous tension between them and even more so when Jean walks on the stage and Reggie won’t answer her he instead turns his back on her and complains about not getting bloody marmalade at breakfast this could be because of their background and being married for only one day because something happened that neither of the two wanted to happen. Along with the tension between Reggie and Jean there is tension between Jean and Cissy where Jean thinks she is better than Cissy and tries to belittle her by saying things that hurt Cissy’s feelings in the scene where they are getting dressed and Jean says to Cissy she could never fit into the outfit because she is too big. They all believe that if they get back together and sing again that the ‘good old days’ will return and they will get past all the tension but what doesn’t help is a tension of mystery where Jean refuses to sing and the other three don’t know why this is until the end where she accepts it and finally sings because the others come up with a plan to help her get over her fear and voice being bad by singing as terrible. Quartet also utilises human context and shows the roles of each character as Reggie is the young and fit and shows this in his walk of being a little quick but stops to think about things …show more content…
It feels like you could step on to the set of Quartet and feel like you were part of it and it was just normal life. Reggie and Jean being married and then breaking up connects to real life issues and happens to people. People getting old and staying friends shows that even though you grow up doesn’t mean friendships end or old groups break up. It also connects to real people and makes everyone feel this issues can happen to anyone in real life and we will all encounter these issues.
Overall the play of Quartet was comedic, perverted and sometimes formal. It also kept the audience going with witty remarks that some of the audience could connect to. Quartet showed tension, human context and realism throughout that helped convey dramatic meaning of the play which meant growing old doesn’t mean having to grow up. The actors portrayed their characters well and made everyone feel like they were actually these characters. Everything in the play was realistic and believable as everything that happened could happen in real