Some Explicit Polaroids

Author:: Mark Ravenhill
Venue:: St James Cavalier
Dates:: 6, 7, 8; 13, 14, 15 October 2006
Director:: Chris Gatt
Cast:: Marc Spiteri, Pia Zammit, Narcy Calamatta, Coryse Borg, Victor Debono, Keith Bennett

Summary:

Failed assassination attempts, New Age strippers, Techno music, Russian go-go boys, corporate anarchists, AIDS cocktails, horny ghosts, beautiful bodies, abusive lovers, business execs on the rampage, lots and lots of E… and more. Welcome to Happy Nation!

What the press said:

a weird and wonderful play that never ceases to shock and surprise Kenneth Zammit Tabona, WEEKENDER 21/10/06

Pia Zammit’s Helen was beautifully played. Kenneth Zammit Tabona, WEEKENDER 21/10/06

Marc Spiteri played Nick very convincingly and sensitively. Kenneth Zammit Tabona, WEEKENDER 21/10/06

the hapless Nadia was played magnificently by Coryse Borg Kenneth Zammit Tabona, WEEKENDER 21/10/06

Tim, an aging queen, (was) played electrifyingly by Victor Debono Kenneth Zammit Tabona, WEEKENDER 21/10/06

young,sexy Russian sex-slave called Victor, was played with extraordinary conviction by Keith Bennett Kenneth Zammit Tabona, WEEKENDER 21/10/06

Jonathan, played splendidly by Narcy Calamatta, is the epitome of capitalist smarminess and razor sharp opportunism Kenneth Zammit Tabona, WEEKENDER 21/10/06

We meet two Tims in this play; both splendidly and movingly played by Victor Debono. There is the Tim who is the archetype gay in a thin carapace of flamboyant clothes advertising, Sex, Drugs and Rock’n’Roll in capital letters, and whose heart is as hard as a diamond; a cynical hedonist who buys people and sex but eschews Love completely because he, like many homosexuals, has been hurt and disillusioned once too often. Many are those who, unable to face life, throw themselves into a self-destructive pursuit of pleasure till, like Tim, the endless futility of it all gets to them. Then we meet the sick and dying Tim; a man who has given up the febrile artificiality of his former life and who wants to die because “nothing means anything”. Kenneth Zammit Tabona, WEEKENDER 21/10/06

Some Explicit Polaroids is not a comfortable play to watch. As the Russian ingénue snaps away, producing instant and disturbing Polaroid images of the unquiet people around him we realise that he is changing from a mindless body up for sale nurtured in the grey socialist ex-USSR to a real person who is belatedly growing up in leaps and bounds and boy, does Keith Bennett’s performance sparkle! Kenneth Zammit Tabona, WEEKENDER 21/10/06

’Fast, astringently pungent and at times unbelievingly funny; breathtakingly graphic and occasionally lyrical and tender too; this is a play to be remembered and to make one think. Splendidly cast, directed and produced, it will long remain in my mind, a point of reference to attempt to unravel and maybe understand the cerebral conundrums and human complexities that make up the paradoxical world we live in. Kenneth Zammit Tabona, WEEKENDER 21/10/06

Borg makes this pathetic creature a delight to watch and a source of most of the play’s humour, having the right amount of energy and verve. Theodore Reljic, THIS WEEK, 15/10/06

Zammit’s performance is spot on and scary – we all know how mediocrity is easy to fall into. The most boring character turns out to be the most effective because it hits so close to home. Theodore Reljic, THIS WEEK, 15/10/06

Some Explicit Polaroids is a play I found gripping and exciting Dr Paul Xuereb, THE SUNDAY TIMES, 15/10/06

Helen is not a rewarding part but Pia Zammit brings out many psychological nuances that make it come to life. Dr Paul Xuereb, THE SUNDAY TIMES, 15/10/06

The most striking performances are those of the hedonistic trio, all of whom will change during the course of what is not a long play. Victor Debono’s Tim is the best thing I have seen him do, both vocal delivery and body language plotting his decline from the arrogance of power over others and his utter ignoring of the illness that is eroding him inside. Dr Paul Xuereb, THE SUNDAY TIMES, 15/10/06

His (Victor Debono) performance and the physically uninhibited performance of Keith Bennett allow Ravenhill’s aim to make this deathbed scene very moving. Dr Paul Xuereb, THE SUNDAY TIMES, 15/10/06

Like Bennett, Coryse Borg in her micro-outfits and complete surrender to physicality of the moment is utterly convincing. Dr Paul Xuereb, THE SUNDAY TIMES, 15/10/06

Like Debono and Bennett, she (Coryse Borg) has come up with an impressively strong performance that is all of a piece and develops convincingly. Dr Paul Xuereb, THE SUNDAY TIMES, 15/10/06