Looking like a dishevelled British rocker badly hung-over from an all night bender, Mark Butler seems like the kind of guy who would sooner consider calculus to be a comic book superhero than a mathematical theorem. It turns out, however, that before he became a talented comedian and an Adelaide Fringe regular, he spent four years as a maths teacher in the UK. So why the drastic change in career? If his entertaining debut play Rogue Teacher has any truth to it, Butler’s morals are far better suited to the stage than they are the classroom.
Adapted from Butler’s novel ‘A Playground for Disobedient Dinosaurs’, this semi-serious play focuses on Red Thomas (Butler), a crooked maths teacher who takes advantage of his students, and more scandalously, their teenage girlfriends. The result is a diverting classroom drama that is both capably performed and thoughtfully written, in spite of a few issues with pacing and a desperate need for a more suitable venue.
Butler, partly putting aside his knack for comedy, avoids trivialising events by not overdoing the humour, instead subtly infusing hints of wit to make the serious issues at hand more palatable. The show has been written specifically for this Fringe, meaning it’s packed full of references to Adelaide locations, such as St Peters College where most of the events transpire. It’s a nice touch as it helps the audience better envisage the locations outside of the main classroom setting, especially since the only props on the small stage are a desk and blackboard.
He claims to have never acted before, yet Butler’s subtly nuanced performance as Red is standout, the flippancy of his character being both credibly depicted and strangely endearing. The small supporting cast – including Aaron Nash as a hot-headed student, Alicia Case as his promiscuous girlfriend and Alex Cheers as a naive and self-absorbed sports teacher – all perform well, despite the occasional slip-up in what was their second performance to date. Look out for Gary Heartly as the school’s high achieving principal and Robyn Brooks as a student’s overtly suggestive mother; both are scene stealers in their all-too-brief roles.
The show is playing at the Producers Bar inside the Electric Light Hotel, a grungy venue on Grenfell Street that is far better suited to moshable music gigs than sit-down stage shows. On top of the theatre entrance being obscurely located within the main bar, the seating is severely limited (some were forced to stand up) and the heat was almost unbearable as the sole air conditioner ceased to operate. Such unacceptably high temperatures took their toll on the cast, who clearly started to run out of energy by the hour mark, while the audience grew restless in their seats. It wasn’t long before programmes became personal fans.
Ultimately, those hoping for a joke-a-minute might want to consider enrolling elsewhere, as the balance of comedy and drama in Rogue Teacher is definitely in favour of the latter. But if you’re keen for a dramatic lesson in concepts such as chaos theory – which suggests even the smallest of actions can have a life changing effect – you’d be wise not to wag this one.
[Review originally written for Buzzcuts]
Presented by Mark Butler/Alex Cheers
Electric Light Hotel, 235 Grenfell St
February 20 – March 6 (excl. Feb 21-25 & 28; Mar 1-3)
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Read many more great Fringe reviews at the Buzzcuts website!
The Adelaide Fringe Festival runs from the 19th February – 14th March. Check out the program guide and buy tickets online at www.adelaidefringe.com.au
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