 Mechanics
Institute Performing Arts Centre
Corner
of Sydney & Glenlyon Roads, Brunswick
(Until
June 7)
With only his high-pressure job and cocaine
habit to fill his empty existence, Charlie (David Passmore) finds himself
overwhelmed by work and underwhelmed by life. After his mother’s funeral; a
fainting spell on the Tube; and being caught out by the company accountants for
embezzling the firm; he snaps and runs. With the help a shifty conman, Mike
(Michael F Cahill) Charlie creates a new identity to escape both the law and
his dead-end existence.
Charlie’s escape is split into two
narratives; one explained by a pathologist (Tory Rodd); the other taking place
in Charlie’s scrambled mind: a gothic nightmare where he witnesses his own
death and resurrection in a blend of reality and fantasy.
Over 200,000 people a year disappear in the
UK
and playwright Fin Kennedy senses these mysteries go “to the very heart of how
we define ourselves; leaving one’s former identity behind and starting over
seems to be an almost existential act.”
Kennedy’s play is a dark comedy, but laced
with symbolism. Charlie is a Kafka-esque fugitive, escaping from a nightmare
existence into madness; while the fateful meeting with Mike has Faustian
overtones, with the devilish Mike guiding Charlie into his new identity. Even
the chosen name for Charlie’s new persona is significant: Adam - the first man.
And while ‘Adam’ now races to create a new life for himself, the ever-present mortuary
table and the matter-of-fact presence of Sophie, the pathologist, is always
with him.
There is humour in Charlie, but Passmore
gives him a sad and moving dimension, constantly twitching from his cocaine
withdrawal, while Cahill’s series of characters become an ever-present evil
seeming to lead Charlie to his fate.
Paul King’s direction and design is simple
and direct, with the mortuary table an ominous feature, allowing for the play -
which seems simple and direct but is far more - to speak for itself.
Photo: Tim Williamson
Bookings:
9016 3873
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