Night shift can drive you crazy, especially if you are already, at least, half way there. There’s more time to think, more time to fill, more time to remember. The Amazing Business presents the final part of the Monkey Trilogy, Love Monkey, set in an aging Irish Hotel, wherein our aging hero is attempting to prevent the loss of his mind, and career, while working the long, dark night shift.
John-Paul Hussey’s Love Monkey is a frenetic, creative, multi-media onslaught of free association and disparate exploits. Gorgeously staged, this is a visually and aurally rich production, one that seems to revel in its own complicated form. Love Monkey utilises Sound design by Kelly Ryall, Set and Video design by Matt Gingold, and they are both deliciously intricate and brazen designs, each part tied together smartly by director Lucien Savron. The lighting operation and/or design however, though clearly creative and fitting the mood of the production, needs a little more work, as it did not always seem to be going as planned, the follow-spot for example was too clumsy.
The script, written by performer John-Paul Hussey, seems a semi-autobiographical trip into the adventures of a traveling performer; the parties, the co-workers, the drugs and the European circuses. There is also a search for love, but that aspect of the play is less effective. Hussey slips easily from one character to the next, with never an unconvincing moment or a drop in energy. This is a really exciting, physical production. It has a vigorous pace which tears along the path of a disjointed but cohesive narrative. The performer is a magnificent concoction of clown and menace. Director Lucien Savron has helmed this production, crowded with ideas, into a compelling one.
The Love Monkey trip is well worth taking.
The Amazing Business presents
Love Monkey
Written & Performed by John-Paul Hussey
Venue: Northcote Town Hall, 189 High Street Northcote
Dates: May 30 – June 15
Times: Tues – Sat @ 8pm; Sundays @ 6pm
Tickets: $25/$20
Bookings: 9639 0096 or www.easytix.com.au
