And They Call Him Mr Glamour

hmm
here's what I wrote for artshub
http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/and-they-call-him-mr-glamour-185716?sc=1

Perhaps it’s a Sydney/Melbourne thing but I am afraid this show did nothing for me.
Melbourne anti-institution The Black Lung Theatre and Whaling Firm have never previously appeared on Sydney stages. Here, in a world premiere is the extraordinary And They Called Him Mr Glamour, a challenging and confronting solo show written and performed by Black Lung member Gareth Davies.
Davies’ performance in itself was amazing, but I’m afraid I didn’t like it. His unkempt, almost psychotic character in a blue Hawaiian shirt desperately wants love and attention – or indeed any sort of human interaction – but his behaviour was alienating and off-putting. In the opening section he smoked incessantly and had a David Helfgott-like twitch while delivering an extended monologue about life, death, the meaning of existence and communication (or the lack of it) in our society. The piece also examines theatre practice and the nature of theatrical reality. At one point in the show Davies goes into the audience and sits watching and waiting for something to happen.
A piece about human interaction, longing for love and querying if love is real, it is a clarion call for self respect and understanding. Davies’ performance is incredibly intimate and soul-baring. Apparently he wrote Mr Glamour during an oppressive bout of paranoia, sort of ‘falling through it’ to survive it. At the end Davies is stripped, with his pants down, revealing everything.
Relentless, intelligent yet moronic, impatient and very brave, this is Davies’ one man plea for self respect, heroism and conversely, the right to be regarded as an idiot if he wants to be. The angry, passionate script is sometimes rambling, incoherent and repetitive with lots of very strong language and passages that could offend.
I really liked the jaw-dropping set by Trott and Wright. As we enter there is an incredible ceiling sculpture of a flowing mass of light globes suspended from above, Chihuly-like, and a wonderful wall crammed with assorted bric-a-brac – a hand basin, a painting, a ceremonial mace, a footstool, among other things – and a partially dug up earth floor. All meant to represent our human psyche, perhaps, or Davies’ world of the imagination?
I didn’t find it particularly funny but a lot of the audience especially the under 35’s loved it and were hooting hysterically. Yet on the other hand there were walkouts.
A challenging, puzzling performance.
Rating: Three stars
And They Call Him Mr Glamour
Written and performed by Gareth Davies
Director: Thomas M. Wright
Set Designers: Peter Trott and Thomas M Wright
Lighting Designer: Govin Ruben
Running time: 70 minutes (approx), no interval
Belvoir Street
Sept 15 – October 9