Vertigo Theatre is good at putting on those hard boiled detective plays. Where everything is in black and white and the private investigator is cynical and has a bit of a drinking problem. Farewell, My Lovely is one of those plays, a world premiere by playwright Aaron Bushkowsky. The play is an adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s novel.
Vertigo Theatre’s production is quite lovely, with a simple sliding pane set and projections that don’t interfere with the story. The play also has some strong performances. You just wish that the story made more sense.
When Chandler penned the novel, he recycled plots from previous stories and it shows up blatantly on stage. Characters lack motivation and plot lines don’t really connect. The audience leaves at intermission unclear as to what the actual crime is. The PI at the centre of the story, Philip Marlowe (Graham Percy) is hired by Moose Malloy (Beau Dixon) to find his girl Velma. In the course of looking for her, Marlowe works with Detective Nulty (Stephen Hair) and encounters many characters along the way, including Jessie Florian (Lucia Frangione), Marriot and Amthor (Anthony Ingram). Plus there is Annie Riordon (Emma Slipp) who seems to always be at the right place at the right time and the mysterious Helen Grayle (Jamie Konchak).
Percy is a strong actor and can carry the lead role but doesn’t quite embody Marlowe’s character. He isn’t quite cynical, even though he says he is. Percy has a little bit too much charm to come off as dark and self loathing. Frangione has quite a voice and does a good job as a supporting character. Everyone tries to settle into their roles, but plot lines don’t add up enough for the actors to really get the motivation of their characters.
Vertigo Theatre’s Farewell, My Lovely is a great detective play with strong performances if you willing to let go of continuity within the narrative.
Vertigo Theatre’s Farewell, My Lovely plays until October 19th. More information is available online.
Photo: Graham Percy
Credit: Benjamin Laird Arts & Photo
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Bear in mind that Chandler was never great with plots, so it’s sort of an homage that Bushkowsky’s play has a few loose ends.
Agreed, though, that Percy’s Marlowe lacks some of the world weariness that defined the character in the book. Great female cast.
Thanks for commenting!
I can see how it could be a homage to Chandler’s writing.
My girlfriend, who is unfamiliar with Chandler’s original works, enjoyed this production more than I expected she would. I think it’s safe to say, however, that if you’re acquainted with the source material, you’ll leave feeling unsatisfied.
Percy does a supremely entertaining job portraying a never sober, downtrodden PI, but it’s just not Marlowe. This is a character that’s a bit too bumbling and incompetent, too jovial and personable, and just too blustery and animated. His trademark deadpan delivery or the driest of witticisms was sadly lacking. And while Marlowe may have been an alcoholic, the amount of brown-coloured water slung around on the stage of this production is hyperbolic to the point of being distracting. The end result is a protagonist that evokes a bit too much Butch Patterson to hit home for the die-hard Chandler fan.
Also added was a love story not present in the original work (at least, not to the degree presented here), turning the hard-boiled Marlowe into a lovesick sap, who spends too much of his time in monologue mode, bemoaning his inability to choose between two women.
For me, the cornerstone of all Marlowe novels is the dialogue, too much of which was excised from this production and replaced with facsimiles written by the playwright that don’t quite deliver the same punch.
All that being said, the production value was top notch, and the actors were generally superb overall. It was an entertaining experience, but one you would probably enjoy more if you’ve never read Chandler beforehand.