FRED
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
08/04/2014 - 24/04/2014
Production Details
Well-known New Zealand television and theatre star Lisa Chappell brings her smash hit show FRED to Auckland’s Basement Theatre this April, playing multiple characters in this self-penned black comedy about survival and ʻJust Dessertsʼ.
Deidre lives on her own: struggling to pay her bills, bullied by her students and mourning the death of her cat. But when two handsome salesmen knock on her door with a hidden agenda and a taste for the macabre, Deidreʼs problems have just begun.
For the next two weeks she is held captive and dined on by her unwelcome guests until FRED, her imaginary friend, and a certain New Zealand ice-cream saves her.
This is Lisa Chappell as you’ve never seen her before.
“I wrote this in a four hour sitting one frustrated, unemployed night,” Lisa said. “Itʼs an unedited look into the mind of a deeply disturbed woman with a wicked sense of humour, thatʼs the main character, not me… (well)… itʼs a subconscious up-chuck, or a gift from above, Iʼm not sure which.”
FRED is at the Basement Theatre in Auckland
from 8-24 April, 8pm.
Tickets are available through iticket 0508 ITICKET (484 253) www.iticket.co.nz
“A highlight of the Sydney Fringe Festival” – Sydney Morning Herald
“It strikes a balance between the horrific and the hilarious, creating an emotional effect that is painfully unsettling but entirely entrancing” – Suzy Go See
“An absorbing hour that is relentlessly dark and extremely funny” – Lisa Thatcher
Theatre ,
Risk-taking mind-expanding theatre
Review by Kate Ward-Smythe 09th Apr 2014
Miss Chappell – what a ride: a hurly-burly, topsy-turvy, roller-coaster-through-a-haunted-house-at-high-speed ride. In terms of the demands on an actor’s craft, in the hands of anyone less than brilliant and at the top of their game, this hour-long one-woman play would be too dense and complex for many to navigate. In the hands of Lisa Chappell, this self-penned multi-layered stream of consciousness exposé of the human condition is edgy and intriguing.
Regarding Lisa’s play, I thought I had it all in check: we meet central character Deirdre – a woman living on her own grieving for her dead cat – then along come Roger and Carl (a couple I wouldn’t recommend you have over for dinner), followed by Fred, her imaginary bro-friend; and Caroline, her text-book therapist.
One hell of a tale of macabre cannibalism and ice cream unravels, driven by themes such as isolationism, self-deprecation, internal turmoil, mental unrest and demons.
However, the arrival of Samantha and a hitherto unmentioned doctor, both in the dying minutes of the play, have me confused and unsure about what the core of the story is. I do know, in retrospect, that the flippant reference to her teacher at the top of the night is more poignant than all the other characters.
Director Christopher Stollery and Assistant Director Grae Burton set a cracking pace, with quirky physicality, life-lessons reinforced by body tattoos and reoccurring vocalisations — all of which greatly enhance Lisa’s absurdist yet entertaining narrative.
The opening scene, as Lisa’s central character Deirdre fidgets in the shadows and hovers in the edges of light, is fantastic: a wicked performance with Rainman-like movement. The laugh out loud dialogue, as Deirdre narrates the experience from the audience’s perspective, plus a manic energy in Lisa’s voice, is pitch-perfect and joyful to watch and listen to.
Did I enjoy it? Yes. Am I left slightly confused? Yes. Am I bothered? No. Would I recommend it to enthusiastic lovers of risk-taking mind-expanding theatre? Hell yes, absolutely.
Lisa Chappell not only shows once again that she is one of New Zealand’s most watchable actors, with one of the most compelling voices heard in The Basement for a long time, she also reveals a playwright’s fine intellect and an appetite to write out on a limb.
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