Midsummer (A Play With Songs)

Warm, wonderful and hilariously witty, this is a superb fantasia on midsummer madness and the meaning of love and life.

One of the major plays of this year's Sydney Theatre Company season and a hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2009, Midsummer (A Play with Songs) has had sell-out UK and international seasons and here is performed by the original cast members Cora Bissett and Matthew Pidgeon in this production by Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre. Written by playwright David Greig, it is a contemporary and joyous rom-com with a Scottish accent and indie folk-rock band Ballboy's Gordon McIntyre.

It is midsummer – Saturday June 21, the longest day of the year – in Edinburgh. And, of course, it is raining. Divorce lawyer Helena (Cora Bissett), stood up by her married lover, and petty criminal Bob (Matthew Pidgeon) are thrown together in rather dubious circumstances and end up sharing an explosively hot, extremely enjoyable one-night stand. Both are 35 and having a midlife crisis of varying degrees.

They are reunited by chance and a mad 'lost weekend' begins as they impulsively decide to spend the 15 grand of hot cash Bob was en route to deposit for a low-level gangster. Bridges are metaphorically burnt, there are frantic car chases and disastrous wedding bust-ups; awkwardly gymnastic Japanese bondage fetishism at a posh hotel goes wrong and ghastly self-loathing hangovers do not help. But ultimately, the unlikely duo discover that even the most committed solitaries have the potential to change direction.

Musically there is quite a range, from classical guitar to ukuleles, and from sad, plaintive songs – with some rather whimsical yet engaging lyrics – to blistering hard rock with over-amped electronic guitars.

The show features some very strong language and some very steamy (and very funny) sex scenes. Having seen it, you will never regard Elmo in the same light again! It also features philosophy and humour, as in the scene when we attend a birthday party for Bob at the Dept. of Philosophical Underpinnings, where the audience are all 'Bobs' and questions are asked about 'Bobness').

Both Helena and Bob act as narrators at various points during the play. The characters express their subtextual, secret desires and sometimes engage in interior monologues. Various scenes are repeated but from slightly different viewpoints and there is wonderful use of the rhythm of language and voices. They are marvellous chameleons, becoming assorted other characters as required – Bissett as the hulking 'Tiny Tam' Callaghan is a highlight, and the way she can change from menacing hood to cheery TV weather girl is remarkable. Pidgeon as Helena's horrible, whiny nephew is also amazing.

There is a strong sense of definite 'place', of Edinburgh's sprawling urban diversity but the play travels and 'translates' very well in Sydney. Georgia McGuiness has devised a cluttered, flexible black-and-white set that is dominated by a huge bed. At the end, the audience roared and cheered its delighted approval.

Not to be missed.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Midsummer (A Play With Songs)
By David Greig and Gordon McIntyre
Songwriter: Gordon McIntyre
Designer: Georgia McGuiness
Lighting Design: Claire Elliott Dramaturg: Katherine Mendelsohn
Cast: Cora Bissett, Matthew Pidgeon

Sydney Opera House
6 February–10 March 2012
Bookings: www.sydneytheatre.com.au

The show travels to Canberra Theatre Centre: 28-31 March
Wollongong's Merrigong Theatre Company: 3-7 April
Brisbane's La Boite: 10-28 April