Sarkies goes for dark and funny in quake tale
The Demolition of the Century created and performed by Duncan Sarkies and Joe Blossom. Circa Two, Wellington, February 21 Reviewed by Laurie Atkinson
THE Circa Two stage appears to have been turned into a small and neatly arranged recording studio for its current show which is a reading of extracts from a novel by New Zealand writer, film-maker, playwright, short story writer, and stand-up comedian Duncan Sarkies.
The novel, published in 2013, is The Demolition of the Century, which is, apparently, not at all as apocalyptic as the title suggests.
The Century is an old theatre, which Spud, a demolition contractor with an ancient wrecking machine appropriately nicknamed T-Rex, reduces to rubble.
The central character is Tom, an insurance investigator who seems to have lost his job, his exwife, his socks and his 10-year-old son. There is a film noir feeling to the cover of the novel (on display on stage as well as post-show) and to the cover of the theatre programme, with Sarkies looking very much like a down-at-heel investigator whose life is a mess.
The film noir-ish feeling is also evident in the author’s dry, sardonic and often humorous style.
It is further heightened by the author’s decision not to cover the whole story but to present vignettes that are ‘‘slices of lives, self-contained . . . that will take you on an emotional journey that will give a few laughs, the odd tear, a pinch of pathos . . . ’’ In other words, a 90-minute trailer.
The extracts are dramatically supported, enhanced and enlivened with the excellent performance of musician Joe Blossom, whose music was often played when Sarkies was writing his novel.
Three of the songs performed are by him and the other six he performs are by the likes of Nina Simone, Gene Vincent and John Fahey.
Though sometimes it is hard to pick out the lyrics (Circa Two is a very small space for so much amplification), the music, particularly during the vignette about a nightmarish journey through the deserted theatre, is impressive and in tune with the writing, as is Jason Morphett’s murky lighting throughout the performance.
Sarkies first performed The Demolition of the Century in the New Zealand Festival last year.