GIFT OF THE GAB

Mary-Ann Fahey, an Australian comedy writer/performer, has found the perfect expressive vehicle in the character of Rowena Batts, lead character in the third in a series by one of Australia's master humor writers. Rowena was born " with some bits missing from my throat." Nonetheless, she has a strong personality, which she expresses in emotive sign language, and a tendency to get herself into trouble. Naïvely taking matters into her own hands, she fills a bully's car with rotting apples and, later, plots to discover the person who killed her mother in an accident in France. Fahey's spirited performance captures Rowena's full-blown temper and passionate insights. Fahey reads with a sense of timing that brings the story's humor to fruition. S.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 07]