With book, music and lyrics by Amity Dry, The Perfect Life is a modern-day musical that follows the lives of four women.
Lily is the owner of a local cafe, a business she has successfully built over the past couple of decades. The cafe is the meeting point and place of connection for these women. It’s a place for lunches and book clubs and fortnightly Friday night drinks with friends.
Lily is married but with her twin boys heading overseas on their gap year, Lily’s home has become surprisingly quiet. Her friend Kate is a single, career-driven business woman with no plans for children. It’s a stark contrast to their friend Bec, a married stay-at-home mum with three noisy, young children to manage. Bec’s cousin, the free-spirited and world-adventurer Jess, has just returned from overseas to help with the care of her mother who has been recently been diagnosed with cancer. The lives of these four women intersect at the cafe, and their stories continue to play out in the privacy of their own homes.
The Perfect Life first started as a cabaret act at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2009 under the title of Mother, Wife & the Complicated Life. It was further developed into a musical that toured beyond Adelaide. I first saw Mother, Wife & the Complicated Life at Melbourne’s Chapel Off Chapel in 2015. It was funny, it was poignant, and it was relatable. It explored motherhood with both humour and respect. I laughed and I cried. I adored it, and promptly purchased two tickets to see it again with my husband. He also loved it.
After more than 100 performances through a critically acclaimed Australian tour, Mother, Wife & the Complicated Life travelled internationally, performing Off-Broadway as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival and then played at the United Nations. It was then translated into Norwegian, titled The Perfect Life, making its European debut. Further workshops and revisions were held in London, with the musical title changing to The (M)other Life and playing in the West End. A production was staged in Finland. Then COVID interrupted everything. For the past six years it seemed that this beautiful musical had been laid to rest. Until this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival, when The Perfect Life returned in this new version.
It’s been more than a decade since I first reviewed Mother, Wife & the Complicated Life at Chapel Off Chapel. I adored it then, but I love it even more now. Amity Dry has perfected the craft of writing a musical. More than 15 years in the making, The Perfect Life is now the perfect musical. Amity Dry had already written some amazing songs. Songs to sing along to, that stay with you after you leave the theatre. Under the musical direction of Martin Cheney, a five piece band bring these stunning songs to life, enhanced by the musical arrangements of Matthew Brind, with additional arrangements by Marco Callisto and original arrangements by Mark Ferguson.
While the earlier production of Mother, Wife & the Complicated Life was probably more a series of connected vignettes, The Perfect Life is now a beautifully constructed musical that interweaves the stories of the four characters as they navigate the challenges of their everyday lives. While one is facing death, another is dealing with new life. While one is planning a wedding, another is unexpectedly planning a divorce. While one is seeking a career promotion, another is turning down work to focus on family. Everywhere you look there is a beautiful, but gentle contrast to each woman’s story. The four women all have their challenges, but all remain likeable. The villain of this piece is not a person, but simply reality. Life throws us a curveball from time to time, and that reality of unwanted circumstance is the real villain. It’s a villain that can’t necessarily be overthrown, but rather must be worked through. The Perfect Life takes us on a journey with these women – their highs and their lows. There are some powerful messages to be found through the story.
In an era where most new musicals are stage adaptations of a well known book or film, or a juke-box musical about a well known person, The Perfect Life is a rare gem: a truly original musical. It’s a story that can be translated across cultures and races. While there are some hilarious moments, The Perfect Life respects and honours the journey of motherhood and womanhood.
This production of The Perfect Life was not merely a glimpse of its potential, this was a production that showcased just how amazing it already is on a limited budget in a small theatre at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. A surprisingly detailed set design by Bec Francis immediately establishes the location of Lily’s Cafe in a converted old church. Vertical screens subtly differentiate scenes and are tastefully done. An excellent lighting design by Mark Oakley adds to the ambience.
Director Jo Casson has found the perfect balance of humour and tenderness. All four characters feel real and relatable. There are plenty of opportunities for laughter, but there are also moments when you could hear a pin drop. Moments that leave the audience in complete silence, hanging on every word and not daring to applaud an incredible performance because it no longer feels appropriate to clap. Indeed, the audience was transfixed. Beautifully balanced, the show ebbs and flows from the highs to the lows, and then has us leave the theatre smiling and wiping away the tears.
Bringing these characters to life are four exceptionally talented performers.
Kerrie Anne Greenland gives a powerful performance as Kate. She is career driven but there’s also a softness to her character. Her journey through this show is a masterclass.
Chloe Zuel is excellent as Jess, playing the role with the right balance of warmth and humour. Jess is a young woman, newly in love, planning a wedding but also caring for her sick mother. Zuel brings a genuine warmth and fun to the character.
Dee Farnell is outstanding as Bec, the exhausted stay-at-home mother of three, who adores her children despite all her complaints. She is witty and charming and the love for her family is sincere.
And then there’s Amity Dry. The first time I saw this show as Mother, Wife & the Complicated Life Amity Dry played the role of business woman Kate. In The Perfect Life, Amity Dry has stepped into the role of Lily. Dry is extraordinary in this role. Not many people can write the concept, book, music and lyrics for a musical and then pull off a performance to match the professional experience of the cast that includes leading roles in mainstage productions of shows such as Les Miserables and Hamilton, but Amity Dry has succeeded. Her performance is breathtakingly heartfelt and genuine.
The Perfect Life has been edited, revised, workshopped and transformed into a truly remarkable work of theatre. The choice to leave the cast as just the four women characters not only makes this a potentially more viable commercial option, but centres the attention entirely on the women. This story is about them. It’s about their lives and how they interact with those around them – their spouses, their children, their parents. It’s how they feel in those moments, and it makes for a powerful story.
However, this is not merely a musical for women. Apart from some funny moments in songs such as ‘Baby Come To Bed’ that got some laugh out loud reactions from the men in the audience, this musical also offers an insight into the lives of women and what it’s like being a modern mother. In many ways this is a wake-up call to invest in relationships, share the load and communicate with each other.
Whether you relate more to Jess, Kate, Bec or Lily will no doubt depend on where you are at in your own life journey. The Perfect Life is entertaining and uplifting, but it’s also deep and thought-provoking. It’s a fun night out, but the story remains with you for days. All week I’ve had snippets of numerous songs playing in my head, from ‘the honeymoon is over’ to “I would have bet on us’ to ‘what is perfect’ to ‘baby come to bed’ to ‘I don’t care’ to ‘B-R-I-D-E-Z-I-L-L-A’. All that’s missing is a cast recording of The Perfect Life and I’d be playing it over and over on repeat.
Adelaide Fringe has now come to an end but surely this can’t be the end of The Perfect Life. This outstanding production needs to be seen and heard.
