The New Theatre’s play for this years’ Mardi Gras Festival is British playwright Jonathon Hall’s ‘Hardcore’, in a production directed by Mackenzie Steele.
Hall’s play takes the audience into the world of gay adult films and features four young guys trying to make it in the world of blue movies. They are a motley crew. Craig is the most experienced, having made two previous movies and having won the ubiquitous Stiffy award for most promising newcomer. Kevin is a struggling young straight actor needing work, who decides to audition, believing that it will challenge his acting skills! 25 year old Robert is keen for new experiences and has put it down amongst his things to do before you die list. Martin, newly arrived in the country, is hoping to meet the man of his dreams.
This is an engaging, fun night in the theatre without being a stand-out. The show worked as a sex comedy with a dramatic undertow to it, as the playwright explores the relationships that develop between the characters, and goes some way into delving into the dark background of its characters. A lot of fun comes from the different moves and body shapes that arise during the filmmaking. The action moved easily between the different settings; the audition stage, the characters in their private lives, the shoot, and the aftermath.
The cast of four, Jens Bohnsack, Mark Dessaix, Julian Lovick and Daniel Nemes gave energised, well developed performances. Tony Youlden’s lighting design was particularly effective in the play’s darker scenes. The feature of David Marshall- Martin’s set was the large blue movie posters that ‘stood over’ the stage.
‘Hardcore’ plays the New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown until 6th March, 2010.
