Culture

Fortune Theatre Mainstage. Written by Dave Armstrong. Directed by Patrick Davies
Starring: Phil Vaughan, Jon Pheloung, Jake Metzger, (3.5/5),


There was a warning attached to The Tutor telling us that it contained coarse language. In this respect it certainly delivered. The play opened with a barrage of ‘fucks’ and ‘shits’, but it was the utterance of the word ‘cunt’ that sent the Fortune Theatre audience into quite the tizzy.
 
The plot was fairly straightforward; a teenage boy Nathan (Metzger) is failing NCEA maths. He is spoiled by his wealthy dad John (Vaughan) who has enlisted the help of Richard (Pheloug), a “washed-out, Daihatsu-driving hippy”, to tutor his son. Classic! How the hell will the hippy and the ‘jafa’ get along?
 
It’s always refreshing to have a character that doesn’t impress you from the get go but turns out to be the one you support right until the end. In The Tutor this character was Nathan, so credit/mad props to Davies and Metzger for making that happen. I found Vaughan’s character a bit more of a struggle to warm to. I was invested in his performance but it seemed a bit forced at times. None-the-less I did enjoy his character for the most part. Someone has to play the straight character to provide balance and this fell to Pheloung who gave a steady performance.
 
The Tutor was entertaining but fell a bit short of providing something truly exciting and original. It flowed reasonably well and reached an appropriate climax but the resolution seemed a bit too neat, forsaking a more complex conclusion for a happy ending. It was accessible which I think is important; you could safely take your mum, dad and siblings and all would find something to take away. Everyone would have an enjoyable time, which is worth applauding.