REVIEW: Moonlight and Magnolias, Frinton Summer Theatre, McGrigor Hall

FRINTON Summer Theatre’s fifth offering this season, Moonlight and Magnolias, peels back the curtain and transports us to 1930s Hollywood and the burgeoning film industry it harbored.

Based upon true events, aggrieved and frustrated producer David O Selznick (Will Harrison Wallace) calls his friend and legendary writer Ben Hecht (George Readshaw) into his office with a mission - rewrite the entire script of his new movie ‘Gone with the Wind’ in five days!

With filming halted, Selznick drags in new director Victor Fleming (William Meredith) to assist in revising the screenplay. With the door locked and an enormous supply of peanuts and bananas on demand, Selznick is determined to get his ‘Epic’ off the ground whether Hecht and Fleming like it or not!

The play does a great job carrying the audience away into the 1930s, helped in part by Beth Colley’s set complete with a working ceiling fan, imposing desk with three telephones and a grand art deco window dominating upstage.

Especially poignant are vignettes paying tribute to the colour and imagery of ‘Gone with the Wind’, but the madcap action and social messages bring to mind many other films of the time such as ‘Bringing Up Baby’ or ‘Mr Smith Goes to Washington’.

Wallace handles the stoic but explosive character of Selznick with a determined air, barking orders and at times delivering moments of tenderness as he tries to hammer out his vision.

Heck, a slick performance by newcomer Readshaw, is a relatable moralist with a quick tongue and progressive voice that tries to push back on the injustices and faults of the movie.

Fleming meanwhile, played neatly by Meredith, is a sharp suited, no-nonsense bull of a man whose body and mind is put to the test by acting out the entire film, with predictably humorous consequences.

Special mention must go to Frinton regular Jemima Watling, who’s numerous but varied delivery of the line ‘Yes, Mr Selznick?’ as Miss Poppenghul sent chuckles rippling throughout the audience not to mention the physical embodiment and inspiration of Vivien Leigh against the background.

Though primarily a farce,‘Moonlight and Magnolias’ does try to touch upon important social topics of the time such as race within Hollywood, the glorification of the Confederacy and the antisemetic gaze directed at the industries upper echelons.

But these concepts feel under-explained, unanswered and juggled about, leading to characters delivering long monologues that might’ve been more exciting being explored by dialogue.

Where ‘Moonlight and Magnolias’ excels is in its slapstick, frantic and chaotic moments. For lovers of ‘Gone with the Wind’, ‘The Marx Brothers’ and the golden age of Hollywood, don’t miss out.

Moonlight and Magnolias runs until August 13.

David Pearce