Suburban Motel – Problem Child
Bakehouse Theatre Company @ Bakehouse Theatre
7:00pm, Thu 4 Mar 2004
Score: 6
Short Review: Disturbingly familiar…
Problem Child is the first of the two Suburban Motel plays by George Walker that Bakehouse is presenting this Fringe. And, for me, it’s the better of the two, due to the almost farcical script and solid character portrayals.
Denise and RJ are trapped in a small-town motel room – Denise yearns for her child (kept from her care by social worker Helen), and RJ is addicted to daytime talk-shows. Phillie, the motel manager, provides comic relief.
The performances were solid all round – Emily Hunt was great as a manic mother, and Nathaniel Davison played RJ with a small-town familiarity that I could identify with. The standout, though, was Patrick Frost’s Phillie – a well-weighted and funny delivery. This solid piece of theatre can hardly be considered essential Fringe viewing, but doesn’t detract from Bakehouse’s growing reputation.