Lorna Irvine reviews a pair of productions, part of the Citizens' Up Close Season.
Matthew Lenton's adaptations of two companion pieces by late Polish playwright Slawomir Mrozek focus on social control and human agency and interaction, shot through with absurdist humour.
Striptease (****) is a two hander—almost, as two nebbishy men in uncomfortable suits find themselves spat out into a hostile terrain. There, scrabbling on the ground to the point of insanity, they are left increasingly at the mercy of a giant pointing hand which instructs them, periodically, to remove their clothes. Is it a politician, God or more Satanic influence? Mrozek implies there's little difference in all three.
Robert Jack, a bellicose oaf and more impressionable baby-faced lad Ross Allan, are thus locked in a game of power-play and philosophical debate, over how much self-will they both really possess, acting like petulant brats until they are ultimately crushed like insects by the force. Astute, smart and very, very funny, the duo excel in a relentless burlesque--in the old sense of the word--of farcical nightmare.
Less successful is Out At Sea (***), which is nonetheless still wildly entertaining. Jack and Allan are now joined by a brilliant milksoppy Samuel Keefe as they portray three men shipwrecked on an unnamed island who must decide on who will be eaten. Unashamedly ridiculous, with two winningly silly cameo roles from a campy Peter Kelly, the twist can be seen early on, but it's vividly brought to life by the frenetic cast.
If the whimsy at times borders on sitcom cliché, it's only because many modern writers took so many themes from Mrozek and his contemporaries. Satire is always required-now more so than ever.
Part of Citizens Theatre Up Close Season 17-24 October
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