Sandro Colarelli as Xavier. Photo - Justine Walpole.
It's all about him. And it's all about
them – John Howard, Kevin Rudd, the legal fraternity, Christian
fundamentalists, gays and straights, Big Brother, Corey Worthington,
Kate Bush, the cult of celebrity generally, manipulative political
machine men, gullible voters...
But mostly, obviously, The Narcissist
is all about him. That is, Xavier, a ruthless political operative, a
self-absorbed, 40-something, commitment-phobic gay man in Brisbane,
the proud poster child for a generation of self-seeking,
self-serving, self-loving, self-loathing, selfish individuals.
Brisbane playwright Stephen Carleton's
script is a fable on individualism in society. It was a criticism
often leveled at John Howard's Australia; the Government promoted a
divide and conquer strategy of wedge politics and the manipulation of
personal prejudice for political gain. And yet, sadly, in updating
the script for this return season of the play at La Boite's
Roundhouse Theatre, Carleton found things weren't all that different
under Ruddism.
“Eighteen months later, in the early
days of the Rudd era, I discover that not much needs to be updated in
terms of the play's spin-focused approach to sexual and cultural
politics,” Carleton writes in the show program.
The Narcissist has been La Boite's
biggest success to date. It was clearly the best play from its 2007
season, with the biggest ideas. So much so the production, cast and
all, is heading to the Opera House in Sydney for a season with the
Sydney Theatre Company.
This is a piece very much of its place
(Xavier lives in Brisbane's inner-city trendy gay haven of New Farm),
and very much of its time. The amended script heralds the political
death of John Howard and the pop cultural demise of Big Brother. The
script is a little tighter, too. Xavier's apartment, a set designed
by Greg Clark, makes better use of the three-sided stage (fittingly
complete with Andy Warhol-inspired posing portraits of the main
antagonist).
But the ideas haven't changed, still
ripe for satire despite the shifted political sands. After the death
of his MP master, Xavier is now charged with getting a fundamentalist
Christian from a cult-like anti-church (it meets at the local
shopping centre) elected as Labor's next sitting member. For Xavier,
spouting political weasel words and seemingly meaning them, it's all
about winning, no matter the candidate or the cost.
Best friend Bronwyn is the ultimate fag
hag, an Ab Fab-era interior design columnist with The Courier Mail,
fabulously 40-something (she insists), soused and sassy with a sharp
tongue. But while Bronwyn is worried time is ticking by in the search
for lasting love, Xavier is a strictly-one-night-only man.
That is until they make the bet: the
first to bag a man before New Year's Eve wins a case of champagne and
an all-expenses-paid trip to Port Douglas. Bronwyn sets her sights on
Satchel, Xavier's sexually-ambiguous blond himbo housemate, while
Xavier crafts a plan to win back his university sweetheart hunk
Jesse, despite him announcing his impending nuptials to the
conservative Bible-basher Y'landah.
These characters are instantly
recognisable archetypes that allow Xavier, in bitchy asides and
spotlighted monologues, to comment on our obsessions with beauty and
youth (“gay men are like dogs,” he says, “they age seven years
for every one”), with fame and status (Satchel devotes his life to
auditioning for Big Brother while competing for the most Facebook
friends), and with material stuff over any real human connection
(Satchel is particularly taken with the chocolate throw rug Bronwyn
bestows on him). Not to mention 'family values', left-v-right
politics, law in society, the commercialisation of religion,
homophobia, immigration, reconciliation...
There's targets everywhere, and
Carleton can't hope to hit them all. Particularly with the character
of Y'landah (those “phonetically correct but nevertheless
incorrectly spelt” celebrity-inspired names are pilloried, too),
who is an unconvincing mess of religious happy-clapping, bigoted
social conservative, ruthless lawyer, habitual liar and all-round
psychologically-disturbed nutter. Local graduate Judy Hainsworth does
her best with a character that lacks the familiarity of the others.
Meanwhile, the character of Jesse (James Stewart, in the only cast
change from the original production) glosses over his amazing
conversion to God-bothering hetrosexual only to long for the arms of
Xavier once more.
Where it really works is with Bronwyn,
played with gay abandon by Andrea Moor, as a portrait of an older
woman waking up to the realisation she really did have it all without
having anything. With Satchel (scene-stealer Jonathan Brand), who may
well be just as vapid as the times in which he lives. And
particularly with Xavier (Sandro Collarelli, who balances the humour
with a genuine pathos), who wrestles with the idea of a real
relationship with the man he loves only to let his own selfishness
defeat him.
It's a pretty dark and damning tale,
really, under Rudd as much as Howard, but wrapped in enough silliness
and slapstick to keep the bus-full of giggling high school students
in a packed audience amused throughout. Which is really the whole
point.
A La Boite Theatre Company Commission THE NARCISSIST by Stephen Carleton
Venue: Roundhouse Theatre, Musk Ave. Kelvin Grove Urban Village Preview: 5 & 6 August Season: 7 – 22 August Times: Tues & Wed 6.30pm, Thurs-Sat 8pm Bookings:laboite.com.au or 3007 8600
THE NARCISSIST ON TOUR Sydney Theatre Company: Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Sydney
28 August – 4 October
Merrigong Theatre Company: Illawara Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong
21 – 25 October
Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre: Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre
28 October – 1 November
Jetty Memorial Theatre: Coffs Harbour
2 – 5 December
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