by Stephen Adly Guirgis
seen at the National Theatre (Lyttleton) on 30 June 2015
The production is directed by Indhu Rubasingham and designed by Robert Jones, and features Ricardo Chavira as Jackie (a prisoner on parole), Flor De Liz Perez as his girlfriend Veronica, Alec Newman as his sponsor (apparently in AA) Ralph, Nathalie Armin as Ralph's wife Victoria, and Yul Vázquez as Jackie's cousin Julio. It consists of nine scenes set variously in the flats of Veronica, Ralph and Julio.
The title is indicative of the language used within the play - street smart New York profanity. But Guirgis is a master when it comes to idiomatic dialogue; the rhythms are perfect and the title phrase acts as a leitmotiv throughout, indicating Jackie's frustration with his world as he tries to go straight but still maintain his sense of control. He has unfortunately found a stranger's hat in Veronica's flat, and her denial that anything untoward has happened does not reassure him. A series of incidents and revelations follow, which could easily have become vicious and nasty, but somehow we are in a comedic world where the worst does not happen - though there is still plenty of hurt (physical and mental) and heartache.
The cast are excellent (three are from the US, and Yul Vázquez was in the original production), and the staging is brilliant, with the three flats on separate truckle stages appearing and disappearing in the blackness of the Lyttleton stage, and a series of red-painted New York fire escapes floating into different configurations for each venue.
An essay in the programme refers to Guirgis's interest in the problem of leaving childish things behind and learning to behave in a grown up manner. Jackie in particular has a lot to learn about this process, but Ralph is correct in pointing out that Veronica too is hiding from adulthood by her reliance on coke. Yet Ralph himself is hardly a shining example. It is Julio, the disregarded 'faggot cousin', who has the wisest outlook, and perhaps the play's most moving reminiscence.
Despite the sense that any progress in these people's lives is fragile and small, the overall impression is of enormous vitality and energy, which is curiously refreshing.
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