Book of the Month, Tempo Theatre’s first play of the year, is a “gentle English comedy” – just the ticket for this time of doom and gloom, director Jon Elphick believes.
Scandal erupts in a respectable English town when the M.P.’s daughter writes her first novel: Bare Bosom’d Night, a steamy romance featuring her family and neighbours. (Less roman à clef than roman à cleavage?)
Betty Halliday (Sarah Jackson) is 17 turning 18; her journalist friend (Ryder Gavin) is an aspiring novelist, but has never finished a book. So, she gives writing a go to see how hard it is. The result is “a torrid tale of love and lust” (albeit seen through the eyes of an innocent teenager in 1950s England). In it, her father (Kim Wilson) is having an affair with his wife’s sister (Debra Byrne); her mother (Rina Onorato) is having an affair with the doctor (Chris McGrane); and the maid (Anna Hemmings) has had a baby to the colonel (Paul Cowan). The novel becomes a bestseller, hence the title – and the town must deal with the fallout from the book.
The play’s highlight is the second act, which shows the novel acted out onstage. Even after two months of rehearsals, the actors still find the piece amusing.
“The cast were still laughing at it last night,” Elphick said. “Having seen it a thousand times, if they’re still laughing, it must be alright.”
The 1954 play was by Basil Thomas, a prolific writer of plays, screenplays, and pantomimes in post-war Britain. Stage called it “ingenious” and “good light entertainment” – “one of the best laugh shows of the season”. After Thomas’s early death in 1957, aged only 44, his cousin, Gerald Thomas, director of the (in)famous Carry On films, adapted it for the cinema as Please Turn Over (1959).
But Tempo’s production is the first time Book of the Month has been performed in Australia since the 1980s.
Elphick admits he faced several hurdles tracking down the script. “It was a miracle I found it,” he said.
One wet Saturday evening two years ago, Elphick watched the film adaptation on television. He liked the film, and went straight to the computer to find the original play.
“I looked for hours, and thought this is a lost cause – it’s probably out of print, and no-one’s ever heard of it.”
Last November, the film was run on telly again, and Elphick finally tracked down a copy in an English theatre company script library. But that library didn’t open until mid-January, and even then, the library couldn’t send it to Elphick because of a postal strike. In the end, it reached Canberra thanks to a cousin in England. But the delays were worth it, Elphick believes.
“[The script] could have been absolute rubbish, but it wasn’t. It was much better than the movie. We thought it was funny from the moment we first read it.”
And he hopes Canberra audiences will think so, too.
“With everything that’s happening in the world, people need a break. If you want an afternoon of thought-provoking theatre, this isn’t for you. If you want an afternoon just to relax and enjoy yourself, this is the show to come and see. Spend a couple of hours, have a good laugh, and forget about your troubles.”
Tempo Theatre presents Book of the Month at the Belconnen Theatre, 26 May – 3 June. Tickets are available from Canberra Ticketing or phone (02) 6275 2700.