Bemusing and bizarre, but great fun
APPLE FACE
DIRECTOR: Adrian Collins
CAST: Pierre Malherbe, Juliette Pauling and Brett Williams
VENUE: Alexander Upstairs
UNTIL: May 19 RATING: ★★★★✩
MORE an intriguing mind game than a piece of theatre, Apple Face takes its audience on an hour-long trip into the surreal, where a pet armadillo, a decapitated head, an apple or two, and a young woman of volatile identity (among other things) are par for the course.
In the midst of this farrago is Phil, a morose individual whose perceptions of the reality surrounding him become flakier by the minute, necessitating a continual readjustment of his reaction to what he experiences. Or thinks he experiences.
The audience follows him on this journey, equally divided between curiosity and amusement, for Pierre Malherbe’s script is laced with humour: dialogue is bracingly crisp and intelligent, images are often outrageous, and there is the occasional non-sequitur.
As the whole affair is way beyond the bounds of plausibility, one can remain detached from any crisis befalling the protagonists while participating vicariously in their adventure – an ideal formula for entertainment.
It all starts when Ryan and Phil, a lawyer and a teacher respectively, are waiting for an unpunctual drug dealer ahead of someone’s al fresco 40th birthday celebration.
Thereupon we part with the reassurance of reality: the setting is a park with chill-out tents, organic fairy tents, dance floors and a music festival in progress – or is it? Ryan leaves Phil alone as he goes “down to the river”, and along comes Chelsea, or is she called Sarah? Or perhaps Jennifer? Her identity changes with each new imaginative scenario.
She variously comes across as Ryan’s girlfriend, a hired assassin, a psychology student with a flair for black comedy, a seductress, or… whatever. Chameleons are more stable.
Temptation is evoked by snakes and apples (shades of Eve), then there is a grisly object in Chelsea/Sarah/ Jennifer’s backpack; Phil succumbs to a lethal cocktail – or does he?
The labyrinth becomes more intricate on the way to a dubious denouement.
Juliette Pauling shines in the female lead, embracing her successive identities with supreme assurance. Malherbe, as Phil, is best placed to penetrate the persona he has himself created, doing so with engaging naturalness, and Williams makes the most of his lesser but essential role as Ryan, a laconic foil for the rambling Phil.
Guy de Lancey’s set has appropriately bizarre touches, like the garish, inflatable “seats” in the amusement park, calculated to convey the fanciful arena for this… shall we call it a comedy?
It may leave its audience bemused, but there is no denying that it is great fun.