A show to suit the “greedy little bogan in us all,” Urban Display Suite is sure to have you laughing at yourself in minutes. Written, produced and starring the exceptionally talented Michael Dalley, the show pokes fun at the upper classes that pay for lifestyles rather than living them, and at the lower classes reclining in their “Franco Cotso armchairs” and Gainsville sofas.
Premiering last May at fortyfivedownstairs, the show has just begun its summer season at the Melbourne Theatre Company’s Lawler Studio. The new set was as simple as any modern minimalist designer home but was rendered extremely diverse by creative use of space. As well as the new set, which is designed to feel less like a theatre and more like a display suite, there are six new songs, which welcomingly extend the length of the musical satire to just over an hour in length.
Co-stars Lyall Brooks, Sharon Davis and Gabrielle Quin were outstanding in their ability to seamlessly transition into wildly varying characters. Quin had a strong voice that paired pleasingly with Dalley’s to deliver the deliciously wrong It’s A Terrible School (But The Grounds Are Stunning), although nothing quite compared to the songs delivered by the whole company. A favourite was I Wanna Be Tasteless, which was about pairing the tackiest furniture items together in an affront to the style conscious dwellers of Camberwell. The crass poses assumed by the cast at the end were shockingly delightful in a pleasant kind of way.
Influenced by country ‘n’ western, ballroom and Broadway, the choreography by Lucas Newland was fresh, sharp and synchronised by the cast with perfect timing. With the wild energy of excited children the ‘real estate agents’ tore through the dance moves. At one point during Shit Art of the Mornington Peninsula the dancing was so absurdly wild that it was actually enticing. Definitely appropriate to the scene, wildly funny and only achievable due to the great charisma of the cast.
Despite the fancy footwork, the most impressive aspect of the performance was the script. The acerbic wit of Dalley shone out of every song lyric and poignant one-liner. Brooks’ glee when his character dreamt of the day he would inherit his parents’ property was unexpectedly bold, but fitting. In emulating their characters so precisely, the cast pulled off the riskiest of jokes with ease. Paired with the accompaniment of pianist John Thorn, the show remained upbeat and cheerful despite the lashings of cynicism and sarcasm it frequently dished out.
Urban Display Suite proved to be vivid, alive and rambunctiously enjoyable. The audience delighted in the energy and the stunning truth of Only Forty Minutes (From The City,) a song about the poor infrastructure connecting the city to the suburbs. Particularly satisfying was the part recognising that it never takes just forty minutes.
A play that was over far too soon, Urban Display Suite is sure to delight everyone, from those who live in Moonee Ponds to Prahran.
Urban Display Suite is at the Melbourne Theatre Company’s Southbank Lawler Studio until January 21, 2012. Book on 8688 0800.
Image credits: Mike Emmett
