The Real Inspector Hound
Theatre Guild
Sat 30 Sept
Until Sat 14 Oct

Sir Tom Stoppard was born in Czechoslovakia in 1937. He and his family fled the Nazis in 1939 for Singapore and fled the Japanese for India two years later. The family finally landed in England in 1946, and he is now one of the world's most famous contemporary playwrights. No wonder with a history like that that his plays feature juxtaposed temporal and spatial relationships; but they also display a sensitivity for the human condition and the supremacy of a sly humour intellectually targeting the absurdity of social constructs.

While famous for 'Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead' and 'Shakespeare In Love', he was knighted for his advocacy of human rights.

The ugly red bricks of the Little Theatre are thankfully blanketed with witty critics' notices writ in large type which made entertaining reading while waiting for the play to commence, but one stood out - "...the current practitioners are a distinguished, immensely experienced bunch, but they are predominantly male and middle aged".

Hmmm, sounds like the Adelaide bunch. A nice segue to Ben McCann and Brent Eustice who play a couple of jaded critics watching yet another murder mystery. Eustice mines a grandiloquent old hack for all it's worth, while McCann's Moon is frustrated by the pecking order on his paper. The play within the play is based on 'The Mousetrap'; Director John Wells has his actors expand and swell every pun, joke, double meaning and misunderstanding with expression, gesture and voice modulation, not to mention some snappy costuming.

Perhaps a bit overblown and a little stop and start on opening night, but this highly experienced cast will certainly sort this out. It was a very great pleasure to see the sparkling Emily Branford and the feisty Alex Ward back on the jarrah boards after too long an absence. It's amazing how many directors at the Little Theatre direct so much of the action upstage and Wells is no exception. My tip is to sit high in the wings to avoid the backsides.

Stoppard's farcical swipe at critics and pedestrian theatre will exercise your brain as you keep up with the pace and multiple scenario analysis. This Theatre Guild production is a smart and wittily enhanced presentation of what's now a classic ditty. Weighing in at an hour and a quarter, it's is a short and sharp night out.

David Grybowski