Brilliantly scripted by David Mamet (who won a Pulitzer Prize for Glengarry Glen Ross), Sexual Perversity in Chicago is a biting dark comedy that cunningly examines the sex lives of two men and two women in the 1970s. Director Weare seamlessly moulds the excess of 30-plus scenes and quick-fire exchange of wit and banter into flawless harmony, and brilliantly allows his actors to be, and perfectly capture, the essence of their characters.
The uncluttered minimalist setting of the play is ideal; the functional lighting design and the immediate connection we have with the vivacious characters allows the world they live in to come alive in our minds perfectly.
It focuses on the blossoming seduction of a young couple, illustrator Deborah (Melissa Haiden) and office manager Danny (Alistair Moulton Black) whose relationship suffers horribly by their suspicion-sowing "best friends": sexist ranting, macho Bernie (Pierre Malherbe) and cynical, elementary school teacher Joan (Marlisa Doubell). The play presents "intimate relationships (as) minefields of buried fears and misunderstandings" with the cast making the most of each event, rapidly changing from one emotion to the next extreme, constantly trapped in a maelstrom of mixed feelings.
It's a gorgeous and likeable cast, breathing fire into their energetic characters with humour and understanding. Alistair Moulton Black is ideally cast as the relaxed Danny, whose susceptible nature sends the character on a humorous quest to fulfil the appetite of his blossoming sexuality. Pierre Malherbe allows the rough-and-raw frankness of Bennie to push all the right buttons and confront all questions in his search for the perfect woman.
In an amusing war zone where the battle of the sexes is bombarded with headstrong idealisms and loaded personal agendas, the see-saw confrontations between Danny and Bennie, find worthy opponents in cynical schoolteacher Joan and the enticing Deborah. Marlisa Doubell is great in her shape-shifting Joan, perfectly balancing her unbridled passion with her restrained common sense. Equally wonderful and bubbly is Melissa Haiden, whose chameleon-like persona allows us to witness the vulnerable girl and dominant woman. The characters are people we know, some too well, others we mostly try to avoid because of their daring probing of our inhibited cocoons.
Sexual Perversity in Chicago offers great escapism into a nostalgic past that definitely reflects the contemporary realm of our views on intimacy. It's wild and wacky, taking us to the edge and then allowing us to fill in the rest. Being intimate has never been this much fun.
It's great that independent theatre company like Sugar-daddy Theatre Company takes a brave step forward in bringing us an international classic that deserves to be experienced by local theatre goers.
Sexual Perversity in Chicago runs at the Intimate Theatre, 37 Orange Street, Cape Town until 5 October. Tickets available via Computicket.
Sugar-daddy Theatre Co website: http://sugardaddytheatreco.yolasite.com
For more on the play and other live theatre, go to www.writingstudio.co.za/page1746.html
This was Mamet's first hit play, which put him on the map as a playwright in 1974 and shocked Chicago in the process! However, by today's standards, the play is rather tame but certainly addresses timeless issues such as the misunderstandings that can complicate sexual relationships and the way some people wreck others' happiness in the name of saving it. This masterpiece with undercurrents of loneliness, hope and tragedy forms part of the national curriculum for Drama and Literature in many states of America and is studied worldwide.
