Lorna Irvine reviews a class act.
How to stage the classic movie industry satire Sunset Boulevard without descending into parody?
Get Fullarton. Morag Fullarton follows up her massive success with the PPP adaptation of Casablanca: The Gin Joint with a play version which delights in its gentle use of film noir tropes, limitations of staging and some slick, fast-talkin' dialogue.
And what class acts all round: John Kielty is fantastic as Joe, the idealistic earnest scriptwriter, wrestling with commerce versus integrity; Mark McDonnell is excellent in a number of roles, notably loyal oddball butler Max, Frances Thorburn more than mere love interest as a very Rosalind Russell-channelling Betty, and the wonderful Juliet Cadzow has a ball as faded star and spider-lady Norma Desmond, all swooping soft fabrics and eye histrionics.
The cast are clearly relishing the pacy script and vintage costumes (and Kenny Miller and Tina Anderson on costume and set duty respectively capture the luxury, chintz and velvet, never so hot in daylight) but there is a meta-narrative running through on identities (a world within a world) which adds an extra layer of subtlety to the production.
It would be very easy to turn the melodrama into a kitsch extravaganza, but the production has enough self-awareness to strengthen the witty one-liners with genuine pathos. Cadzow's tears look all too real--a diva she may be, but she is one with real warmth, one that breaks easily knowing she is not the draw she once was, desperately fighting becoming obsolete. As she gets ready for her final, delusional close-up with the cops, you can hear a hundred hearts quietly crack in the darkness. Suddenly, other plays got small.
Performs at A Play, a Pie and a Pint at Oran Mor until June 6.
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