Review: Four Flat Whites in Italy at SkyCity Theatre

Early in the first act of Roger Hall's new play - as an irritable foursome of mismatched travellers are dragging their suitcases through Venice in search of the eternally elusive pensione - Stuart Devenie turns to the audience and announces: "Well you know what's going to happen don't you?"

And while there can be few in the audience who were unable to predict the trajectory of this story of redemption under a Tuscan sun, the journey uncovers plenty of discreet pleasures and amusing diversions.

Roger Hall has efficiently assembled all the requisite ingredients for his inimitable brand of social satire and his latest offering provides a comforting antidote to Auckland's dismal winter weather. With witty dialogue, sardonic asides, sharply drawn characters and moments of poignancy, Hall delivers a perceptive report on the current state of the national psyche - with our anxieties and obsessions laid bare in the unfulfilled yearnings of a quartet of senior citizens representing the opposite ends of the middle-class social spectrum.

George Henare is the abrasive plumbing supplies merchant who finds the perfect tone for a deranged, expletive laden catharsis on the horror of our national humiliation at that World Cup quarter-final.

Stuart Devenie is well cast as a self-deprecating librarian and his perfectly timed deadpan commentary establishes an intimate link with the audience as he reflects on the splendours of Italy, his rising libido and the melancholy interior world of a fractured marriage. Annie Whittle brings plenty of chutzpah to her portrayal of a bold and brassy divorcee while Darien Takle finds hidden depths in an earnest and frustrated librarian.

The production is nicely rounded off with Toni Potter and Peter Daube's stylish platter of Italian stereotypes who fit neatly into Tracy Grant Lord's spectacular set design.