A review of Fred

After viewing Fred, you are left with two questions; is there really any meaning in it or is it just designed purely for entertainment.

The piece portrays certain themes (for example; love, death, sex and lust) throughout the performance but doesn’t examine them thoroughly enough to give the viewer a sense of realisation after seeing it. The themes are portrayed in “cheesy “tasteless situations and aren’t really comical.

You see each event fold out after the next, each one more inane than the last.

You automatically see that the characters are all based on stereotypical personas, which leads the production along a path that is easily predictable and unchallenging. The production forms a classical “Police sitcom/detective novel” which tries desperately to grab laughs but fails. However, the set designer must receive credit, because due to the lack of substance this piece has, one of the only things keeping it afloat is its innovative use of lighting and sets.

. . .

The green shagpile carpet covering one of the walls, is an imaginative feature of the backyard setting, used to represent grass, and the use of the fold-up “Hills Hoist” are worthy of mention. They are used for the “Star City Casino” and for the Morgue that shows the realisation that “yes heaven would be great” but there is still the fact that you die.

Pamela finds the body at the start and then decides to visit “him” at the morgue, then “Fred” is positioned neatly in the left hand corner of the stage for the rest of the show as a reminder of how close we all could be to death.

Considering this was Directed by the “Fabulous” Mr Gow, I was expecting something skilfully prepared and “…one of the most assured stage comedies I have seen for a long while” like the reviews said.

Instead we received a mundane play that you would find on SBS late one Saturday night.

The quote by Alison Coates is quite correct in some cases; it is though there is “Screen characters in search of a play”, immediately after seeing it you have to look at the two paths you can take for your opinion. Is it deeply symbolic? Does it represent life in the suburbs?

2.

Taking into consideration the script is lacking essence; the cast portray their conventional roles well. The whole “wings” element is used as a point of establishing the fantasy side of her persona and the story. Or is it a dog’s breakfast of a play?

Frankly, number 2 is my choice, I found it having no relevance whatsoever except for the few themes it lightly touched over and would find it a waste of time if you were considering going to see it on a Saturday night, I would rather flick the TV to SBS and see what’s on. one of the main features of the set) are used to symbolize the gates of heaven. The brown suit and bright red shirt of the sleazy car salesman, the typical car salesman attire), and the pair of wings worn by Pamela Maude throughout the performance is a good representation of her character.

Common topics in this essay:
Beatrix Christian, FRED Pamela, Alison Coates, Mystery Novels, Detective Rod, Fabulous Gow, Hills Hoist, Casino Morgue, Fred Pamela, Pamela Maude, throughout performance, car salesman, fred pamela,

Approximate Word count = 816
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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