Style is substance, that's the credo of Quentin Crisp in Tim Fountain's Resident Alien.Even the seen better days bedsit where the play is set has a je ne sais quoi though it's certain the curtain must go.
The place has not been cleaned for 18 years so the audience may assume the bedclothes are waving at us rather than a restless slumberer tossing and turning in the shipwreck of sheets.
Of course, it is a person, Quentin Crisp, rising and shining in the shambles of his hermitage, watching a breakfast broadcast of Oprah on his portable television and pontificating that talent is no longer a pre-requisite for appearing on the box.
The risen Crisp then quips and cracks on politics, religion, sex and culture, as he explains his eczema, girdles his tummy and dresses in his velvet suit.
Then to the dressing table to tame his tresses, combing and curling them into his trademark coif.
Paul Capsis' portrayal of Quentin Crisp is quite compelling, the vocal and physical mannerisms marvellous, and with the make up and hair the transformation is creepily complete.
John Hurt famously played Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant as a much younger man, but one may be reminded of another Hurt portrayal, that of The Elephant Man, when the semi naked ex civil servant is revealed, decrepit in dirty bandages. Dressed in his fading finery, the image evokes Gary Oldman's Dracula.
There's a Gothic grubbiness to Gary Abrahams' production from Romanie Harper's costume and set design through to Rob Sowinski's lighting, which is at times eerie and ethereal, the final cue quite startling.
Within these trappings, the undisputed talent of Capsis takes centre stage, stage left and right, and into the wings, keeping character through two well deserved curtain calls.
“I didn’t want to be noticed, I wanted to be recognised!” is one of Crisp's cries.
With Resident Alien, Capsis is both noticed and recognised as one of our theatre treasures.
Cameron Lukey presents
Resident Alien
by Tim Fountain
Director Gary Abrahams
Venue: The Reginald Theatre, the Seymour Centre (Corner City Rd and Cleveland Street Chippendale) NSW
Dates: 12 – 23 July, 2016
Tickets: $48 – $42
Bookings: www.seymourcentre.com
