Review: French Letters & Leather Cleaner

Kings Cross Theatre – Wednesday 15 February 2023

Reviewed by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday)

French Letters & Leather Cleaner

The thing about independent theatre is, that while it may be a bit rough around the edges, the themes and messaging are told with passion and delivered from the heart. French Letters and Leather Cleaner by newly formed Fruitbox Theatre definitely fits in to that category.

While the premise is not new (throw some disparate characters together and see how they react), writer Laurent Auclair handles this with comedic flair, creating some hilarious, farcical situations.

I felt the director (Sean Landis) could tighten up the performance a little as we were left at critical junctures with lengthy pauses that disrupted the flow of the narrative. 

French Letters and Leather Cleaner (Photo: Matthew Miceli Photography)

I understand the need for a wide dynamic range in acting, going from  low energy to high as the drama develops. However the audience in the back row still wants to hear every word. I often note some younger inexperienced actors haven’t mastered the art of projecting their voices, especially when speaking quietly. It’s called a stage whisper for that reason.

The character Kris (Robbie Wardhaugh), an employee at the store, to some may have seemed two-dimensional. On the the one hand sugary sweet, quiet and understanding, always smiling and considerate of others, until they exploded at the three quarter mark – a crux moment – in what seemed like an uncharacteristic even unreasonable outburst. The cause: the expectation that two strangers – customers –  who the owner and employees had just met, should help them save their failing business, an adult sex toys and sex on premises shop. The result: we lost some empathy for their character. 

Shop-owner Robbie (Dennis Clements) brought some seasoned sense to the performance and propelled the main theme of dealing (or not) with change. Andy (Marty Quinn) adeptly trod a fine line on his journey from being innocent yet staunchly and charmingly heterosexual, to his sudden inexplicable queer conversion in the tunnel of love.

French Letters and Leather Cleaner (Photo: Matthew Miceli Photography)

But the stage really belonged to Santi (Mat Oldaker), the ageing drag queen. The room lit up whenever he was on stage, and fell flat when he wasn’t. His pacing and theatrical drag turns were impeccable and hilarious, as was his flamboyant way of tenderly dealing with the other characters – a great performance.

The lighting (Kate Baldwin) had a limited colour palette, and was used to parenthesise the action, sometimes very clumsily. But it was at heart a pantomime and this added to that effect.

In the end the play was a nostalgic ode to a disappearing version of Oxford St, told with more than some regret that a time and place was passing before our eyes. The song to Oxford St that provided the denouement was endearing in its naivety. 

French Letters and Leather Cleaner (Photo: Matthew Miceli Photography)

It was great to see a full house for the opening night in the Kings Cross Theatre, but the tight seating plan couldn’t quite accommodate the two lovely, but rather chunky bears who had to squeeze into the final two seats next to me. It made for an uncomfortable evening, for them and myself, on what was a rather sticky summer Sydney night. But the comedy was so good, none of that mattered as we wobbled together in our shared laughter. 

All up, well worth seeing for the brilliant comedic writing and the star performance from Mat Oldaker. 

Season runs to February 24. Tickets from Fruitbox Theatre.