VINCENT FRIEL! Calling Vincent Friel! Get your ass down to the
Ramshorn and sue the goddam' pants off the Strathclyde Theatre Group
now. If performances could be copywrit then Friel, who performed so
memorably in The Arches production of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross,
would be in for some compensation, as Thomas Gemmell's interpretation of
Bobby Gould, in STG's presentation of Mamet's satire on Hollywood owes
more than a passing nod to Friel.
Gemmell adopts wholesale Friel's particularly idiosyncratic style,
which was all staccato aggression, quick-draw finger pointing, and a
bizarre American accent laced heavily with Hispanic.
Friel, with his panther-like stature and swarthy appearance, carried
it off well but it sits very uncomfortably on the slight frame and pale
skin/red hair of Gemmell.
If the same principle was applied Robert De Niro would be collecting a
few bucks from Nav Lancio, who plays producer Charlie Fox. Fox is
attempting to sell his buddy Bobby a sure-fire script and the play
focuses on the hyperactive negotiations between the two but Gemmell and
Lancio fail to realise the pungent power of Mamet's caustic dialogue as
both seem too preoccupied with their surface impersonations.
The action gains conviction only in the final scene, as Gould becomes
a modern-day Faust, trapped in a dilemma of conscience, between the
entreaties of his temp secretary Karen plugging an idealistic movie and
the cynical Fox, who snarls the perfect summation of Hollywood whoredom:
''If you can't tell me in a sentence they can't put it in a TV guide.''
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