The Eleven Arms Theatre Company are presenting Women’s Shout – The Happy Hour at Edinburgh Fringe.
The Happy Hour is Women’s Shout online playground and weekly seasons of 5 minute episodes were released on 5, 12 and 19 Aug.
The Happy Hour reflects the joyous interactive experience of the live show, allowing you to catch up with Eileen, Gordon, Reg and Jeanette at The Darlinghurst Hotel.
Set in 1955, 1975 and 1999, we follow the Darlings outside of drinking hours with the audience/camera standing in for barman Joe, employed in the first episode and still there 44 years later.
It is billed as immersive and delivers in that respect, with ‘Joe’ as eavesdropper to personal, professional and historical moments.
Eileen is the formidable landlady of the Darlinghurst, married to Gordon and in 1955 the mother of a riotous young son, Tommy, and heavily pregnant.
Friend of the family, Reg, is a bit of a wide boy and likes Jeanette, but their romance takes ages to take shape, and we return to it in every season.
I enjoyed the way each historical period in this Aussie pub was represented by clothes, decor and reference to key events.
The Happy Hour consists of light sketches but also echos the experience of the female publican across the years.
Renee Palmer is the writer and director behind The Happy Hour, opting to film the 1955 episodes in black and white to give a period feel.
Phoebe Anne Taylor, who co-produces with Palmer, plays Eileen, and convinces as both a young mother and an elderly woman watching the time go by. Scott Jackson’s Gordon has less to do but is good in season two.
Reg (Eben Rojter Jeanette) and Jeanette (Hissell Bermudez) are the other outsiders observing the life of the Darlings, through a family tragedy and a possible estrangement.
The idea of visiting the same place across the years is fun, although I opted to watch all the episodes together for the purpose of this review.
The 5 minute structure works well as a snapshot of what is happening, without feeling too forced.
***.5
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/women-s-shout-the-happy-hour (on demand to the end of Edinburgh Fringe)