Billed
as a “new version” (although "updated" might
be a better term), this return season of La Boite’s hugely
successful The Narcissist offers another does of Stephen
Carelton’s biting Brisbane-based comedy. Even if you haven’t
seen the original version, the changes are pretty apparent, referring
as most of them do to events that have only occurred in the past
6 months.
Promo video for The Narcissist
As the title suggests, the main character is, well,
rather full of himself. Just how much so, and what the consequences
flow from that fact, are only revealed late in the piece. Along
the way, the play revels in a cast of deeply flawed but nonetheless
involving characters. Their interactions and conflicts form the
basis of the action.
Carelton’s script is devilishly clever, but
does take some time to get where it’s going. It starts out
as what appears to be a political commentary, before segueing
into a relationship drama with Mamet-esque overtones (and even
straying briefly into soap territory) before coming full circle
to fuse the various threads in a crowd-pleasing finale.
The play revolves around Xavier (Sandro Colarelli),
a political apparatchik who’s plotting up an unholy alliance
between his candidate in an upcoming by-election and the local
fundamentalist Christian church. He’s had lovers, but the
years are starting to catch up with him and his cynicism has resulted
in him being defiantly alone in his fashionable inner-city apartment.
His scheming is however interrupted by a challenge thrown down
by his equally cynical best friend Bronwyn (Andrea Moor) –
end their single status by bagging a man before the end of the
year with the loser to reward the winner lavishly. Both set their
sights on Xavier’s none-too-bright flatmate Satchel (Jonathan
Brand); but he doesn’t seem to be able to decide which side
of the bed he lies on. The contest is thrown for a loop by the
reappearance of Xavier’s ex-lover Jesse (James Stewart).
But it’s not as simple as it seems – Jesse is now
engaged to a woman, the rather high-strung Y’landah (Judy
Hainsworth).
The
Narcissist is definitely a very contemporary piece, with
many of the scenarios relying on recent phenomena. The updating
however reveals some of the fundamental problems with that approach.
For this production to stand the test of time, it would most likely
need constant revision to keep its freshness. Whether Carelton
is prepared to keep doing that is an unanswered question at this
stage.
Greg Clarke’s set design is excellent, particularly
his use of television screens. The cast are all very good, although
sometimes the script doesn’t do them any favours. That’s
particularly the case with Andrea Moor, whose part as Bronwyn
seems to require a lot of yelling. That notwithstanding, everyone
seems to have a lot of fun on stage, particularly Judy Hainsworth
who has the juiciest role as the slightly psychopathic Y’landah.
Despite taking a little while to get into stride,
The Narcissist is a thoroughly enjoyable night at the
theatre. Carelton gives us plenty of humour, some incisive observations
and even a little song-and-dance. Does it all mean very much?
Probably not, but that’s not really the point. This is an
engaging play, and the fact that it’s one of La Boite’s
most popular should come as no great surprise.
The
Narcissist is definitely a very contemporary piece, with
many of the scenarios relying on recent phenomena. The updating
however reveals some of the fundamental problems with that approach.
For this production to stand the test of time, it would most likely
need constant revision to keep its freshness. Whether Carelton
is prepared to keep doing that is an unanswered question at this
stage.