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Written by
Claudia Shear
Co-conceived by James Lapine
Directed by
James Lapine
Designed by
Douglas Stein
Lighting by
David J. Lander
Mae and Jo
Claudia Shear
Charlie
and others
Kevin Chamberlain
Frank Wallace
Ed Hearn
and others
Ben Stillman
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Duke of York's Theatre
19 June - 3
July 2004 |
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'I made myself platinum,' Mae West said, 'but I was born a dirty blonde.' Hence the title of this enjoyable and surprisingly insightful play, which combines fact and fiction and a time-span of over half a century to work its magic.
Claudia Shear both wrote this play and acts in it ‚ a case of Shear genius ‚ to give us a potted history of Mae West's career, and an insight into her persona. The narrative is built on a scaffolding of famous Mae West quotes. Running alongside it is another narrative ‚ the relationship between two Mae West fans, who meet at her grave. They are both somewhat dysfunctional people who have hitherto found it difficult to form normal relationships; their admiration for Mae West not only brings them together but ‚ after some misunderstandings ‚ makes it possible for them to grow closer.
The link between the two narratives is Charlie, who met the aged Mae as a boy of seventeen, and years later, as an introverted film archivist, meets Jo, a Brooklyn spinster and fellow Mae West fan.
As a result of meeting Mae, Charlie develops an unusual way of expressing himself: he can only feel fully himself when clothed in the dresses Mae West gave him. Jo at first thinks this must mean that he is gay, but he is not: which she discovers only in the last scene. The psychological insights Shear offers through this central twist in the plot not only allows her to explore the development of affection between Charlie and Jo, but helps her to establish a crucial point: that Mae West herself was a persona rather than a person, who lived her character as if all life were a performance.
The three actors take various parts, a little confusingly to begin with ‚ the play starts slowly but soon warms up ‚ but with increasingly dazzling switches between past, present, and person. In this small multi-talented cast comparisons are invidious, but Ben Stillman stood out for the remarkable range of his skills and the sharp definition he brought to his characterisations. Clever design and lighting play a crucial part in the effectiveness of the switches. This is not a musical but there is plenty of music in it: Ben Stillman composed the title melody, and there are nine other songs, all integral to the movement of the plot.
The denouement of this intriguing, enjoyable, witty and eventually poignant play is highly effective and satisfying. One learns much about Mae West, and something about life: and has fun in the process. To adapt what Mae West never said (for she never said 'come up and see me sometime'): go up and see 'Dirty Blonde' soon.
John Grayling |
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