Programme
This is not, perhaps, a production for those that are easily shocked or offended. The play opens with the couple in bed noisily completing the act of coitus, which is then followed by an extended period of (particularly female) nudity, and there is occasional strong language and sexual references throughout. But there is nothing gratuitous in any of that, it all fits perfectly with what amounts to a raw and realistic drama of messy adult bonding. There is no gentle wooing or romantic courtship here - just two bruised individuals, through a series of revelations and recriminations in the course of one intense and harrowing night, coming to terms with the fact that they can give each other what is mutually missing from their lives. Set in New York, and with two top American actors in the title roles, the story is steeped in the culture and anonymity of that great city, although the programme helps us with explanations of a few of the more obscure terms that crop up in the dialogue - like "White Down" for white toast.
The stage play is beautifully crafted and much grittier than the familiar Al Pacino/Michelle Pfeiffer movie version that it spawned. The characters are older, less physically attractive and much more emotionally vulnerable. Having said that, Kelly McGillis (familiar from the movies "Top Gun" and "Witness" among others), as Frankie, whilst she has certainly seen better years, is still a good looking woman and obviously quite at home with her body as she wanders around the stage at one point totally naked. But this is worlds away from any of her movie performances and does more to establish her credentials as an emotional actress than any of the former ever did. She really gets to grips with the inner turmoil of her character, desperately wanting to be loved but too afraid to take the chance of allowing anyone to love her, and plays failed actress come waitress Frankie to perfection. Following a physically abusive marriage which left her unable to have children, she has built a defensive barrier around her emotions which at first appears impervious but it does not take long for the cracks to begin to appear. She is clearly attracted to Johnny, but reluctant to open up to him, leading to feelings of being trapped inside her own apartment when he refuses to leave immediately after their sexual encounter. John Saxon's Johnny, on the other hand, is an ex-con similarly hardened by life's disappointments but rather than taking Frankie's defensive stance he chooses to challenge life head on. He has all the confidence that Frankie so obviously lacks. Pushy, but tender, and with a hint of desperation that hints at the fact that his seeming confidence is perhaps not quite so heartfelt as he would have us beleive.
They seem like total opposites and unlikely candidates for a tender romance. But as the night proceeds it becomes increasingly apparent that they have much in common, far beyond the series of coincidences and parallels in their past lives that are revealed as the two soul-mates slowly begin to open up to each other. It's brilliantly staged and artfully written and the chemistry between the two players is so totally beleivable that we really do feel like the proverbial fly on the wall watching these two totally convincing characters venting their angst and keeping us thoroughly enthralled from start to finish. They are characters we can all identify with (if we are honest there is a little bit of Frankie and a little bit of Johnny in all of us) and as we watch from the sidelines in Frankie's one room apartment, we are taken on a serio-comic roller-coaster journey which expertly captures all the humourous awkwardness and shares with us all the joys and fears of their tender, dysfunctional relationship. If ever an example were needed that a small, simply staged, two-handed production could make first-class theatre to challenge the very best big-budget, large-cast productions then this is it! This is a production that both players, and indeed all associated with, can rightly be proud of.
An intense, engaging and darkly humourous alternative love story. Well worth going to see.
Don Gillan - www.stagebeauty.net
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