by Roger Hall
Ensemble Theatre in Kirribilli's premiere of Four Flat Whites in Italy by New Zealand's answer to David Williamson, Roger Hall. Directed by Sandra Bates, with the cast Sara Bovolenta, Adriano Cappelletta, Sharon Flanagan, Mary Regan, Michael Ross & Henri Szeps. I gave the cast some pointers on the distinctive New Zealand sound. Challenges here as always are keeping it real - here in Oz we invariably send the Kiwi accent up to the extreme, so it's often good to differentiate the stereotype from the extreme which gives rise to it, and then start to pull back to find the real. Strange though it may seem the relatively simple transposition of TRAP, DRESS, and KIT (what amounts to a chain shift) can be hard to accurately realise - couple with this a cast including a UK native and a Kiwi native who's ironed out their NZ vowels through living in Australia and we had a few challenges to have fun with!
I had three sessions and the cast were all lovely people and both very receptive and perceptive.All managed to realise the sound to varying degrees of consistency. Michael Ross, who had the most to say as the play's narrator, did an especially good job maintaining the accent.
I attended the opening night with the playwright, my father (a Kiwi himself) and mother - so no pressure. But I had some lovely compliments. Roger himself said the best compliment he could give was that he "didn't notice" and was very pleased.
A review from AustralianStage says "If you like a good kiwi accent, then this is the play you have been waiting for!"
Sharon Flanagan and Michael Ross from Four Flat Whites in Italy.
Four Flat Whites... opened on Friday 16th September 2011 and continues until Saturday 22nd October at the Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli.
