Destiny. It is a concept that drives creative literature and performance based adaptions in every culture and in every time period. Where would the “Star Wars” saga be without the line “It is your destiny…” intoned in various ways impressing on the character (and the audience) that life might be lived freely, however, you cannot escape what has been set for you by some otherworldly entity or existence. While that might seem a bit heavy to contemplate (and some will react against any predeterminism) there are legends in various cultures when seen from “a certain point of view” (another “Star Wars” philosophy) are rather comforting and offer hope for a better outcome than the one in front of you currently.
Japanese culture speaks of the “red thread”, a seemingly unbreakable connection that every person has with one other person – a soul mate, a life partner – and that they are destined to be lovers, regardless of place, time, or circumstances. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break. The play Smiley written by Guillen Clua uses this belief as the central plot device to bring two men who meet by accident to discover if their "red thread" is the one that connects them. Clua is a Barcelona playwright, dramaturg and theatre practitioner who wrote Smiley in 2013 and while 2013 may be both not that long ago and equally seem a long time ago, this current production (in translation by Marion Peter Holt and adapted by director Liam Burke) is as real and “now” as it was when it first played in Spain and then across Europe and the Americas.
Alex (Sergio Ulloa Torres) has been seemingly dumped by his boyfriend who is now doing that very 21st century thing to him – ghosting. Alex’s frustration at never getting answers to his increasingly long and detail-filled voicemail messages and texts, boils over with him using his work landline (apparently some people still have these things…) to dial him – but is one digit off and gets the mobile phone message bank of Bruno (Matt Young) an American living and working in Barcelona (who sees himself as more Barcelonan that the Barcelonans, which adds to the comedy of the eventual in-person exchanges between Bruno and Alex).
Alex is the ultimate gay party boy – gorgeous beyond belief, works out nearly daily (never on a Sunday though) – but goes to two gyms – works in a top line gay bar and is the centre of everyone’s attention. Bruno is equally “gay”, quickly unpacking his personal romantic history at the drop of a hat, a constant chatter of failed relationships, intersecting with his transatlantic lifestyle and work; and his passion for “speaking in films” – comparing nearly everything to classic films beloved by many in the gay male community around the world. It is one of these films, the 1938 screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant and directed by Howard Hawkes that both anchors and spins this equally delightful screwball romantic comedy.
Torres has played the role of Alex previously in his home town of Santiago, Chile and it is not just his “perfect” accent (to Australian ears anyway, those more familiar with the differences between South American and Iberian Spanish, let alone the Catalan of Barcelona perhaps will quibble, but it is not the point) or his perfectly toned physique (which is given ample stage time) but his ability to show Alex as a real person who does understand that a connection, at first seemingly unsuited, is probable, even if it seems impossible. There is a beautiful fragility in the last third of this short one-hour work that you may not expect at the start when you first meet this Mariah Carey-emblazoned singlet wearing, Madonna fan-boy. Shallow is not what Alex is and Torres has real talent in making you feel the pain and confusion that Alex traverses before the play’s end.
Young is well-known for playing strong, defined characters (Goodbye, Miss Monroe; Yanks! & Annie) however his Bruno is a façade at first – wanting to be a good example and “not like those other gays”, but he is every bit as shallow as Alex is when we first meet him. Yet, Bruno under Young’s artful interpretation reaches out and will play the audience’s heart strings like an ancient muse’s lyre. His clear and unequivocal statement to Alex “Admit it. If you saw my profile picture on ‘Gay Romeo’ you’d not date me, would you?” We already know at this point from hearing Alex’s inner monologue that, no, Alex doesn’t want a bar of Bruno at all. It’s a sting that never dulls for most gay men, particularly as they age – that another person will reject you simply on the evidence of one profile picture and hazy meeting in a crowded, noisy bar. The other level to Young’s performance is taking on the various other men Alex “connects” with in the middle third of the play, some of the most hilarious moments come in this section – and the most poignant as well – when he is in the guise of Pablo, the Argentine would-be lover and Alex’s “perfect partner” (but, the audience is hoping that like in all screwball comedies this won’t be the outcome – or will it?)
Under Burke’s reworking of the script, the opening sequence is fast paced as we watch sometimes two or even three conversations that the characters are having – leaving messages, expressing their inner thoughts, maybe talking to unnamed friends about these back and forth messages they are exchaning – and finally the arrangement to meet. Burke’s varied theatrical background comes to the fore in the way he has choreographed the actors’ movement about the stage and only someone with a knowledge of song, dance and theatre could pull that off. The dialogue is of the screwball comedy type – fast, clipped, clever – and the movement with that is equally artistic and also not “realistic” because we are looking at this relationship between Alex and Bruno so much like watching a three dimensional chess game.
Like the slightly abstract way of presenting the developing relationship between the characters, Fiona Keegan’s set and costume design follows that line. In the small performing space of Back Dock Arts in Fortitude Valley, depicting two apartments, a bar, and an airport departure terminal would stretch even the most imaginative of designer’s skills and craft. It’s a clever way the three main spaces are integrated but still separate and the audience doesn’t have any trouble differentiating what is happening where.
It’s a bit of 2020 pandemic serendipity that this work, which is being independently produced by the actors, director and creative team themselves, opens in the latter half of the Brisbane Pride Festival month which was transferred from September to November this year because of the pandemic. Having this work as one of the showpieces of local theatre that explores, embraces and celebrates diverse in gender and sexuality culture, lives and love is important, because visibility is what brings change. As the late Harvey Milk said, “They can’t hate you if they know you.” Smiley is a production that brings much needed love and light into a dark and disturbed year, and as the Bard of Stratford-Upon-Avon wrote “The course of true love never did run smooth” and what is destiny really if you don’t go out and actively pursue the one life you have to live?
Smiley plays at Back Dock Arts, 103 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley until Sunday, November 29.
Tickets - www.tickettailor.com/events/backdockarts/419796/
More Information - www.facebook.com/smiley.australia.play
Review Image: Black Dog Media
© Blair Martin 2020