Margaret Fulton: Queen Of The Dessert
Yes, Margaret Fulton was Queen Of The Dessert (NB the double ‘”ss”) as well as of every other meal produced out of the Australian family kitchen in the 1960s and 1970s.
She showed Australian housewives, and occasionally house husbands, how to prepare food that was more sophisticated than the staple “meat and three veg” meals of the day, thereby earning the gratitude and respect of a whole generation of Australians who bought nearly a million copies of her cookbook in the ten years after it was published in 1968.
This upbeat revival is carried off with great pzazz by the energetic cast of six (Manon Gunderson-Briggs as Margaret Fulton, alongside Rebecca Spicer, Alexander Morgan, Brett O’Neill, Clare McCallum, and Jasmine Sands).
They sing and dance their way through the life story of a remarkable and unconventional Australian who was responsible for a cheap cookbook “that even idiots could understand”.
Margaret’s colourful life provided opportunities for a range of musical styles, including the very Parisienne La Vie Bohème, which composer Yuri Worontschak wrote to reflect the period of her life when she lived down at The Rocks in Sydney among a host of eccentric characters.
Unfortunately, the stage at the Bondi Pavilion Theatre was not quite large enough for the cast to really strut their stuff, but Director Ruth Fingret, Choreographers Emma Jarman and Veronica Clavijo, and Stage Manager Emma Maloney managed to pull it all together into a very entertaining and heart-warming night of theatre under the musical direction of Mary Lennon.
Until Oct 27. Bondi Pavilion Theatre, Queen Elizabeth Dr, Bondi Beach. $30-$40+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.bonditheatrecompany.com.au
Reviewed by Irina Dunn.
