Last of the Red Hot Lovers

In a small New York apartment with chrysanthemum wallpaper and well-worn floorboards, the intricacies of infidelity play out. Set in the swinging sixties, Mark Kilmurry's revival of Neil Simon's play transforms a slightly creaky 1969 comedy into a showcase for the versatile Jamie Oxenbould and Sharon Millerchip,  

In the central role of Barney Cashman, Oxenbould is charming as a fish restaurateur who has been happily married to his high-school sweetheart, Thelma for over 20 years. Facing a midlife crisis and longing for sexual experience, Barney decides to explore the world of infidelity. In three acts, Barney arranges three encounters with three very different women and despite growing increasingly confident and suave; each encounter proves as unsuccessful as the last.

Millerchip is striking in the three female roles, each with individual problems and idiosyncrasies that inhibit Barney's romantic efforts. As Elaine Navazio, Millerchip plays a "drinking, smoking, coughing married woman" who, in a fitted dress and a perfect manicure, is more eager than he is for the affair. The second act sees Millerchip assume blond curls and a miniskirt as Bobbi Michele, an unemployed but upbeat actress who practises dance moves, smokes pot and relates tales of sexual encounters while retaining her goofy charm.

Lastly Millerchip plays Jeanette Fisher, a sad, neurotic and guilt-ridden woman who only agrees to meet family friend Barney as revenge on her husband for his own affair. Telling Barney she does not find him physically attractive, the two discuss immorality and whether there are any ‘decent' people in the world other than Barney's wife, John F. Kennedy and Christ.

Though Millerchip has been highly lauded as a musical actress, receiving Helpmann awards for her roles as Roxie Hart in Chicago and as Columbia in The Rocky Horror Show, in The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Millerchip truly shows her versatility and manages to turn a play about a lothario into a play about her three female characters. Though Simon's characters are exaggerated and somewhat dated, Millerchip makes the three women not only recognisable but plausible.

Technically, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers is just as successful. Kilmurry and set designer Graham Maclean have seemingly spared no expense in recreating a surprisingly detailed 1960s apartment. Kilmurray further ensured the production's credibility with use of dialogue coach Jennifer White who ensures that Oxenbould and Millerchip sustain convincing New York accents throughout. Monica Connors