Frankie And Johnny In The Clair De Lune

Minerva Theatre, Oaklands Park, Chichester, Thursday, November 6, to Saturday, December 6

TERRENCE MCNALLY’S off-Broadway hit was first staged in 1987. But as she prepares to bring Frankie And Johnny In The Clair De Lune to Chichester more than 25 years on, director Paulette Randall hasn’t been tempted to update the story.

“There’s no point in fixing it if it ain’t broken,” she says on a break from the London rehearsal room where she is working with stars Dervla Kirwan and Neil Stuke.

“A lot of things have changed phenomenally, but two people falling in love is still the same whether you set it in a cave or on the moon in 2050. However sophisticated you get with modern technology it is still two people in a room.”

Frankie And Johnny is a rarity among love stories – focusing as it does on two middle-aged characters, as opposed to lovestruck teens.

Randall particularly highlights the older woman in the story.

“A lot of stories are about an older man going through a midlife crisis and finding a younger woman who makes him feel alive,” she says. “These are two people who are slightly jaded. They’ve been around, but it shows it can still happen.”

McNally’s play is set in real-time in a New York apartment the morning after wisecracking chef Johnny spent his first night with waitress Frankie.

The problem is, to Frankie’s frustration, he won’t go home.

“He believes he’s met the one,” says Randall. “He just needs to persuade her that he’s the one for her.

“The characters sort of know each other, but it has only been six weeks since they first met.”

Much of the dynamic in the play comes from McNally’s script.

“It’s not a gradual stroll,” says Randall, who is making her Chichester debut with this production.

“It should feel like a rollercoaster, especially for her. The Minerva is a perfect space for this.”

The play is a contrast to the film Frankie And Johnny, which starred Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer, and took the action out of the bedroom.

“In the play a whole world is created through their dialogue,” says Randall.

It was Kirwan who approached Chichester about staging the play, and was a big reason why Randall took on the project.

“It would be crazy not to want to work with her,” she says, adding this is the first two-hander she has tackled for a long while.

“A two-hander is about how you keep the tension. It’s just the two of them the whole time, which is the lovely challenge of it. This is a great play, so it’s easier – all the things you need are in place.

“I can’t imagine doing it with anyone else now.”

Both Kirwan and Stuke have a history in comedy, with Kirwan starring in Goodnight Sweetheart and the gentle romance of Ballykissangel, and Stuke most famous for his role in Game On, as well as appearances on The Catherine Tate Show.

“The play is funny in parts, so you need people who are completely relaxed and understand comedy,” says Randall.

“It’s not until we get an audience that you really start to play with the comedy. The actors make me laugh in rehearsal, but it will be wonderful to get an audience and see the bits we think work, and discover other moments.”

Starts 7.45pm, 2.45pm matinees, tickets from £18. Call 01243 781312.