Fancy a holiday and a laugh? – HLT has just the play for you

When life is getting more challenging, with floods, increasing prices and all those busy end-of-year tasks it is time to deliver the laughs – and that is exactly what Henry Lawson’s Production of Caravan does as five best friends, in their 40s and hating it, take their first holiday together.

L-R: Dianne Darlington Jeff Brocktoff Amber Mai-Feeley Matt Doherty Mel Bedwell and Daniel Boole…

Caravan has been described as one of Australia’s ‘most successful local comedies’ since it first premiered back in 1983. Director Jason Darlington saw the comedy years ago at the Q Theatre, remembering it as a, “great night of entertainment with plenty of laughs”.

Darlington who makes his directorial debut says it is timely to bring this, “hilarious, fun play to our audiences”.

Overpacking the car and heading up the coast to the beach, with caravan in tow, is a favourite Australian pastime. But Donald MacDonald’s Caravan shows the actual experience can be less relaxing than the dream. Parkes Robinson (Matthew Doherty) is the frustrated caravan owner, who after he misses out on his usual site sets the tone for his holiday, while his wife Penny (Melissa Bedwell) quietly plays peacekeeper until she finally boils over.

Their friends Rodney and Monica (Dianne Darlington and Daniel Boole) despise camping and Monica is ready to uncork the bottle the moment she steps into the van, while Pierce (Jeff Brocktoff) brings along his all-too-young girlfriend Gwendolyn (Amber-Mai Feeley) who threatens the holiday from the start.

In the confined space of a leaky caravan and a lot of rain, tensions rise and the laughs begin.

This play is as much about relationships as the holiday itself as the characters romp and bed-hop around a very small space but at the core of it is friendship, with Penny and Monica as close friends both onstage and in real life.

Performances run from Friday, November 4 to November 19 at the Henry Lawson Theatre in Werrington County. Tickets: from $20.

Tickets are available online at https://www.trybooking.com/CBANC or by calling 0448 011 370.