Last of the Red Hot Lovers
By Neil Simon
2003 – 2004 National Tour
June 11 – September 6, 2003 – 13 week tour to 33 venues in VIC, NSW, QLD
Melbourne, Frankston, Colac, Warrnambool, Portland, Ballarat, Warragul, Wonthaggi, Nunawading, Echuca, Hamilton, Kyneton, Bendigo, Ararat, Swan Hill, Shepparton, Horsham, Warburton, Bayswater, Wangaratta, Wagga Wagga, Belrose, Newcastle, Bathurst, Dubbo, Parramatta, Gosford, Nambour, Maryborough, Rockhampton, Townsville, Lismore & Taree.
May 11 – July 17, 2004 – 10 week tour to 27 venues in VIC, NSW, QLD, WA, SA
Melbourne, Ringwood, Moonee Ponds, Sale, Werribee, Portland, South Morang, Mildura, Broken Hill, Brisbane, Nambour, Redcliffe, Ipswich, Perth, Margaret River, Karratha, Port Hedland, Mandurah, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Port Lincoln, Whyalla, Port Pirie, Renmark, Mount Gambier, Nunawading & Penrith.
A production by Christine Harris & HIT Productions
Barney is forty-seven and has been happily married for twenty-three years to a wonderful, decent and loving wife. He has led a blameless and, he feels, very ordinary life. With the onset of middle age, Barney is faced with his own mortality and decides he needs a change, some adventure in his life. This leads him to the rather late decision to join the sexual revolution and have an affair!
He takes advantage of the fact that his mother’s apartment is unoccupied during the day. Each of the three acts sees Barney invite a different woman to the apartment. However, being a beginner at adultery, and with the vastly different personalities of the women to contend with, Barney fails each time. Eventually he ends up ringing his wife and asks her to meet him for the afternoon in his mother’s apartment! A wonderfully funny and comedic adventure.
Reviews
“If ever a play proved that Jacki Weaver is a national treasure, it is Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers.“
Catherine Lambert, Sunday Herald Sun, VIC, 06/03
“… this will be a sure fire winner, well acted and the best production of this play that I have seen…“
‘Curtain Up’ 3CR, VIC, 06/03
“Both of these vastly experienced performers find joy with the roles… A giggle, a smile and a moral message, all well acted – what more could anyone reasonably want?“
Stephen Dunne, Sydney Morning Herald, NSW, 07/03
“…it has a crisp, clean, freshness of the standard that can only be produced by that rare synergy of great performers and sympathetic direction.“
Julie Moffatt, The Manly Daily, NSW, 07/03
Cast
Barney: Max Gillies
Elaine, Bobbi, Jeanette: Jacki Weaver
Creatives
Playwright: Neil Simon
Director:Jennifer Hagan
Designer: Judith Cobb
Lighting Designer: Rachel Burke