The Gigli Concert

This play explores the pursuit of personal and psychological fulfilment through a series of meetings between a troubled builder and his “dynamatologist” (read: quack psychologist). The builder won’t reveal his name but says he wants to “sing”, preferably like the Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli. It doesn’t go well – this therapist is English, after all – but the builder is drawn back, arriving unannounced or early, interrupting unpleasant phone calls, solitary drinking sessions or moments of dark self-contemplation that give the impression this quack needs much more help than any patient he may receive.

If it sounds intense, wait till you see the play. The Gigli Concert, sometimes described as Irish playwright Tom Murphy’s masterpiece, is unyielding.

Conor McPherson, an Irish playwright who cites Murphy as an influence, has said the older playwright doesn’t care much about making his works palatable. That certainly applies to The Gigli Concert. It’s packed dense with ideas, many of them difficult to decipher. It’s a play of words: the physicality comes through what is said, and the action is limited. But key moments will stay with you long after you leave the theatre.

The acting is superb. Patrick Dickson, who plays the therapist JPW King, is a key collaborator at O’Punksky’s Theatre and a producer here. Maeliosa Stafford, a veteran from Galway’s Druid Theatre, plays the Irishman. Their performances are fearless, creating two characters that are so completely believable it’s as if they’re drawn in a novel: Joyce perhaps, or even Dostoevsky. Kim Lewis plays the other part, Mona: an accomplished performance too, although it cannot compete.

It would be hard to find a better production of this play in Australia. The direction by John O’Hare is sharp and makes the most of the dark humour of the script. The final scene is faultless.

But it’s not a play with obvious connections for an Australian audience. It is too long – a fine play that would be finer if shorter, particularly in the first act. The audience seemed weary by the end, which is a shame considering the last scene is so strong. And essentially these two men are difficult to connect with – they may be emotional but it’s hard to relate to their long monologues emotionally.

Even if this play is about the endurance of the human spirit, it didn’t lift mine high enough. The Gigli Concert resonates but is not completely satisfying.

Peter Gotting

Images: Maeliosa Stafford and Patrick Dickson & Patrick Dickson and Kim Lewis. Photographeer: Wendy McDougall.