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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
The Lounge Act
Verdict: Loneliness and despair
London - September 04 - White Bear
Reg Ajuonuma's The Lounge Act opens with Kurt Cobain shooting-up heroin over protagonist David's shoulder, as he reflects upon depression and apathy. Here is a play that reveals a world of despair and loneliness, seen through David’s eyes in the confines of his dirty squat. It's an unrelenting journey of psychological pain.
David (Kal Aise) has brought Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain back to life in his imagination, as a companion in his torment. Cobain empathises with David, forcing him to articulate his feelings. He encourages David to ‘play a role in his own story’, but there is confusion over what this story is. As one of the dead, Cobain is jealous of David's ability to feel pain. But he doesn't offer solutions or ask where it came from.
David brings a nameless prostitute home, but he’s unable to have sex with her. The Woman (Jacquelyn Hynes) tries to spur David into action with costumes for role-play and then taunts him with his indecision.
Their exchanges are unnatural and aggressive. The Woman and David don't talk comfortably, and although this is undoubtedly intentional, the jerkiness of the dialogue grates. The pauses between the actors’ responses are nearly always equal, which makes the exchanges predictable. The tone of the dialogue falls short of consciously-abstract - and feels stilted.
David and The Woman talk in the same way as David and Cobain – raising the ambiguity of whether she is another of David’s inventions. Jacquelyn Hynes tackles the artificial tone of the dialogue well, with a commanding voice - but her movement on stage is awkward. However, her character has been devised purely to express David's relationship with sex and women, so its delineation is clouded.
It's difficult to empathise with David. He is utterly submerged in suicidal despair and the roots of his depression are never satisfactorily revealed. The Lounge Act is David's internal narrative, and if the audience is unable to connect emotionally with him, it is hard to remain engaged with his story. As he says, ‘fuck empathy’.
Kal Aise’s performance doesn't promote a better understanding of David's frustration. His monologues follow a recurring pattern of anguished whisperings, slowly building up to shouting climaxes. The constant repetition of these peaks and troughs distracts from the dialogue and doesn't bring a closer understanding of the character's anguish.
Luckily, Nathan Nolan is impressive in the part of Kurt Cobain - a role that could easily have lapsed into embarrassing pretension. Kurt Cobain and David are given equally mannered and contrived dialogue, but Nathan Nolan approaches the text more sympathetically than Kal Aise.
When David is at his lowest point of despair and asks Cobain to kill him, Nathan Nolan delivers a touching account of Cobain's attempts at suicide, claiming death to be ‘too pretty to rush… just one entrance and yet so many exits… it needs preparation. It needs a sense of climax.’
Nathan Nolan brings colour to Reg Ajuonuma's writing, but cannot lift it from being an ultimately self-indulgent piece. The Lounge Act doesn't try hard enough to connect and communicate, resulting in indifference to David's plight.
Cast Credits (alpha order): Kal Aise - David. Jeanie Gold - Nan. Jacquelyn Hynes - Woman. Nathan Nolan - Kurt Cobain.
Company Credits: Writer - Reg Ajuonuma. Director - Noah Birkstead-Breen. Set Designer - Belle Mundy. Stage Manager - Andrea Cadogan. Lighting Designer - Rebecca Pugh. Sound Designer -Hans Blern Lian.
END
(c) Greta Russell 2004
reviewed Thursday 2 September 04 / The White Bear
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
