The Glen Street Theatre lifted its curtain on Tuesday to present the play ‘Relatively Speaking’ from the 1960s.

‘Relatively Speaking’ is a cleverly written play that follows the humour of today’s Sitcoms. The play is all about misunderstandings, when the characters play the hilariously unnecessary and sometimes cringe-worthy ‘pronoun game’ without clear communication, which leads to a plethora of misunderstandings and tensions. It is also a tantalising tale of jealousy, marriage, suspicion and unfaithfulness.

After the performance, the Glen Street Theatre gave their audience the rare opportunity of a Q&A with the actors. Members of the audience gladly asked questions and were especially curious about how the actors coped with and memorised such volumes of lines in such a text heavy play, and whether they ever made mistakes or had to improvise mid scene.

The actors explained happily that because this play relies on precisely timed humour, it doesn’t leave much room for improvisation at all — this really showcases just how talented these actors really are. However, they explained, they did have to improvise their physical movements, due to the smaller and differently configured stage area at the Glen Street theatre.

The actors also pointed out that they only rehearsed this play for three weeks before the first performance, instead of the ordinary month or more that would usually be allotted.

Another hot topic was the fact that during the whole opening scene the two main actors had to appear in their underwear. Emma Palmer, the female lead, commented, ‘In another play I had to start completely naked, so being in underwear was fine. I feel like I’m in my apartment and all of you are just flies on the wall.’

‘Relatively Speaking’ is a fun play, that can be enjoyed by everyone,who loves to watch sitcoms and who likes comedy that deals with mix-ups and misunderstandings.

– Monique
Monique Pitzer was born and raised in Germany, where she also started working as a freelance journalist and freelance writer. She moved to Australia and started a business as a writer, translator, and tutor.

If you are interested in seeing ‘Relatively Speaking’ or another play at the Glen Street Theatre, tickets are available online.

Disclosure: The Plus Ones were invited guests of The Glen Street Theatre.
Photo credit: The Glen Street Theatre.