Our play for February was Hotel Sorrento, by Hannie Rayson. Set around 1988, it was first performed in 1990. This was a vivid, moving and funny play which explores the concept of loyalty both to family and country. Three sisters come together after ten years: Hilary who lives in Sorrento with her father and son; Pippa visiting from New York where she works in advertising; Meg who returns home from England with her English husband after her new novel Melancholy is shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Unspoken aspects of their shared past, jolted by the autobiographical flavour of Meg’s book haunts the reunion.
Marge, a teacher with a holiday home in Sorrento, reads the novel and finds it captured an Australia she knows. Her friend Dick is worried by Meg’s expatriate status. This interest draws them into the family where the issues of culture, patriotism and using the past are battled out.
In the first act, the setting shifts between London and Sorrento. All the action in Sorrento in the second act. Relationships are well established in the play. The history of the different personalities and eventually some background as to why the two younger sisters left Australia comes through.
Marge, a teacher with a holiday home in Sorrento, reads the novel and finds it captured an Australia she knows. Her friend Dick is worried by Meg’s expatriate status. This interest draws them into the family where the issues of culture, patriotism and using the past are battled out.
In the first act, the setting shifts between London and Sorrento. All the action in Sorrento in the second act. Relationships are well established in the play. The history of the different personalities and eventually some background as to why the two younger sisters left Australia comes through.
We enjoyed the play and talked about some of the cultural issues and differences between Australia and England that were raised. Are these still in play today? One point that was raised in discussion was the focus on the arts that was happening at the time of the play and that this has had a resurgence in recent weeks.
Our play for March is Parramatta Girls by Australian writer, Alana Valentine.
Joy Shirley
Our play for March is Parramatta Girls by Australian writer, Alana Valentine.
Joy Shirley
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