Sexual Perversity In Chicago, written by David Mamet, has been adapted and readapted on stage and screen (as About Last Night… in 1986 with Demi Moore and Rob Lowe) and for all its crude and caustic dialogue, speaks to the (broken) hearts throughout time. Mamet has challenged many a notion of social interaction through is work as a playwright and screenwriter. With Tony Awards for Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed-The-Plow as well as critical acclaim for the films Wag The Dog, State and Main, The Untouchables and many more, Mamet is nothing if not a slightly absurdist observer of relationships. His play is in the capable hands of Melbourne’s black comedy specialists, Mellow Yellow Productions, who are transforming The Wilde in Fitzroy into the performance space for this season of Sexual Perversity In Chicago.
Director Fiona Atkin explains why they chose this frequently revisited play in the first place. “Well Mellow Yellow was founded on doing quality black comedies and I have always loved Mamet,” she says. “So we were looking for a one act, four hander and I pitched this to her and she loved it. For me, Mamet’s dialogue is genius and this play is a master playwright just about at the peak of his powers. It’s a very, very funny play but in the end it’s also terribly sad. What more can you ask for from an hour and ten minute show?”
Part of the play’s power and originality came from the time and place in which it was set. Capturing the social frustration of working class Chicago natives and the sexual revolution of the ‘70s, Sexual Perversity… could come off as too regionally specific but Atkin and co. have found that Mamet’s piece is so immediately relatable that presenting it in Melbourne in 2013 is in no way an alien concept. The odd political and cultural reference is really all that needed to be updated.
“Well, although the play is set in the social climate of the ‘70s, I think that its main message – the complications of love, sex and relationships – is still very contemporary,” she says. “And hell, misogyny still exists and a lot of us still struggle to work out ‘what the fuck we want’. A few references have been updated – we talk about Iraq instead of Korea – but other than that the play actually transitions from 1976 to 2013 very easily.”
Both the content of the play itself, and the space in which it is being performed have presented their own unique challenges and opportunities for Atkin and her cast. “The Wilde is obviously not a dedicated theatre space, so there are some interesting challenges associated with that,” she says. “It’s made for an extremely intimate production, which I think really suits this play. The audience will feel as though they’re right there, overhearing conversations in a bar or a bedroom. It’s an unrelenting, rapid-fire piece as well, which means that none of the actors really get a break. It’s exhausting for them, but it’s kind of exhilarating as well.”
Exhaustion can also come about from the emotional transition that an actor undergoes when stepping into the skin of a character. A work can inform, change or confront an actor and director’s preconceived ideas about the subject matter being presented. Never is this more so than with something like Sexual Perversity In Chicago. While heavily drenched in comedic elements, it challenges what people “want” out of love with the facts of how it often “is”. Love and the dynamism of a relationship come with a heavy expectation (often uncommunicated expectation) – it’s hard to accept the idea that it isn’t an easy path. Atkin and the cast found the play enlightening in a way.
“The cast and I have had a huge number of discussions about relationships, how we treat one another and sexual politics in the process of rehearsing this show,” she says. “I think all of us have seen something of Dan and Deb (and even Bernie and Joan) in a past or present relationship and the piece has definitely informed our perspectives on how men and women relate to one another.”
While the cast and particularly Atkin are no strangers to opening night jitters, preparation is going well and excitement is building. “We’re in the process of moving from our rehearsal space into The Wilde, which is hugely exciting,” she says. “I really feel that the actors are going to hit their peak with the show just as we open and really there’s no better feeling for a director than that.”
BY KRISSI WEISS
