"Give me a rose to show how much you care…" Savage, Above The Arts Theatre

A rose is a rose… you can’t turn a rose into an orchid and it’s a rose, so why would you ever want to.

Claudio Macor’s latest play tackles the attempts by Danish Doctor Carl Peter Vaernet to cure homosexuality. He believed – against almost all medical and psychiatric advice of the time - that same-sex attraction was a disease which could therefore be medicated, treated and “eradicated… He believed that by injecting testosterone into both testicles, without anaesthetic of course, he could alter the laws of attraction.

Naturally the Nazi’s were highly interested in this barbarous tinkering and supported the mad Dane in his experimentation in the hope of freeing more room in concentration camps for other “deserving” minorities. Sadly, even when the war was over, the British also sensed an angle and funded his flight to Argentina where he died, un-ashamed in 1965.

But what of the lives and loves his merciless needles ruined? Macor prefers to believe in the Doctor’s ultimate failure as love holds stronger than the sharpest needle and the most painful procedure. More than this love conquers even the Nazi’s themselves as one of those abused strides off in proud defiance leaving his closeted lover and abuser to face his conscience alone.

This is an unflinching, honest play that is strongly played by a physically and emotionally fearless cast. At a time when even one of the would-be leaders of British government once supported the cause of a modern day “gay cure” it’s a reminder how cautious we must always be in accepting progress: vigilance, understanding and compassion must define any contemporary culture.

The play starts in stunning fashion in The Corner Light night club,  as the host Georg Jensen (Lee Knight) performs Lili Marlene gradually pulling off his drag as the words stick in his throat with the realisation that he must leave his love and all this behind. Denmark legalised homosexuality in the thirties but once they accepted German occupation in 1940 everything changed.

The song is a cry for loss of love and liberty made all the more passionate by our knowledge of what comes next. It’s a German song but nationality doesn’t matter; only truth and joy.

For you, lili Marleen, For you, lili Marleen

Two lovers leave the club, American Embassy attaché Zach (Nic Kyle) and Danish art gallery worker Nikolai (Alexander Huetson); they are walking a dangerous line in this new cultural reality and as they share what a few months ago would have been acceptable affections, they know the future is bleak. They talk of the future and ways to escape to be together but a stray embrace is caught in a spotlight and they are arrested.

We cut to the surgery of Doctor Carl Peter Værnet (Gary Fannin – late of the Reduced Shakespeare Company) and his prim nurse Ilse Paulsen (Emily Lynne) for whom looks will prove to be deceptive.  Værnet’s loony tune is sexual normalisation via genital injection… the practice being a perfect signifier of the intent.

A deal for the Doctor

Eager to invest in medical experimentation the Germans are all too willing to provide gay guinea pigs. General Heinrich Von Aechelman (Bradley Clarkson – Jimmy from Macor and Andrea Leoncini’s wonderful tribute to silent film great Billy Haines, The Tailor-Made Man!)  brings Nikolai to the surgery and with his approaches to Ilse and plan for sexual-cleansing he appears to be a full-blooded, compassion-free Aryan… and yet, the General is quite different at home.

He has “rescued” Georg for his personal service and the two enjoy a bizarre relationship of necessity – the General genuinely feels for his man but you sense the true power is always with the defiant younger man: even imprisoned and with no chance of escape Georg never submits his soul.

Meanwhile, the Doctor brings out his big needle and in the play’s most painful sequence we see his operation on a desperate Nikolai. It’s hard to watch but well done to Alexander Huetson lets rip in the most convincing fashion. As a man we were squirming in our seats but this actually happened: people were stupid enough to believe this would work and callous enough to put it into practice.

The result is proclaimed as a success by the deluded Doctor as he presents Nikolai with another naked prisoner – Georg. Nikolai’s failure to respond is hailed as proof of concept even though the poor man can barely stand. Now we see Ilse’s true colours as she rescues Nikolia who is not “cured” but broken, incapable of survival on his own. She contacts Zach… who telephones his man from America but as the years roll and the war progresses… is there hope? Will even Zach and Mikolai’s love survive the Doctor's brutal injections…?

Post war, British Major Ronald Hemingway (Christopher Hines) interviews the Doctor and is intrigued enough by his “cure” to affect his escape to Argentina… 

Gary Fannin and Emily Lynne

The plays relationships wax and wane with their components breaking and falling whilst some remain true. Zach escapes to America but he still suffers in a different way to Nikolai whilst the General wants the one he does have... but can never truly possess. The Doctor’s relationship to his subjects, co-workers, collaborators all vary and yet it is his relationship to the truth that never wanes. He is deluded in the most self-absorbed way and the play doesn’t need to linger on his motivations: they remain obscure, fatuous and hateful.

The cast generates an almost frightening intensity in the close proximity of the Arts Theatre's upstairs stage. Lee Knight makes for a defiant diva whose sensitivity is matched by his strength and glamour (strength through glamour: there's one you never thought of Herr Goebbels!) whilst Bradley Clarkson gives his General a tragic desire behind his cowardly devotion to duty: no wonder his character hates blondes.

Lee Knight and Bradley Clarkson

Nic Kyle’s Zach exudes positivity and get-up-and-go which increasingly runs counter to Nikolai’s torments: Alexander Huetson’s role was physically the most demanding and gives the play a visceral unease that brings the audience closer to its subject.

Emily Lynne’s Ilse offers sympathy and the quiet rage of a nurse forced into acts that harm not heal whilst Gary Fannin’s Doctor is a man adrift from morality and confounded by delusion. There is also vibrant support from young Kristian Simeonov as Goran – a cabaret dancer turned soldier and Christopher Hines as Major Ronald Hemingway whose British charm hides his hollow opportunism.

Alexander Huetson and Nic Kyle

Human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell explains in the introduction to the play how he had uncovered this story. It took him some time to persuade the Danish authorities to release papers concerning Værnet’s crimes and, as yet no explanation or apology has been forthcoming from either Denmark or Britain for allowing this war criminal to escape justice.

The play ends with the image of Doctor Carl Peter Værnet projected on the stage – we know you now sir and we won’t forget you. Nor will we easily forget this play.

Savage plays until 30th July and tickets are still available here but you better be quick! In these times of unrelenting press propaganda and a push towards more narrow-band nationalism it’s a vital, challenging night out - one that will leave you shaken, stirred and resolute.

IThankyou Rating *****

William Haines, Arts Theatre, London… The Tailor Made Man (2013)

Faye Tozer and Dylan Turner

Tailor Made Man is not just the best silent-movie-gay-love-story-interior-design-musical in London, it's maybe the best musical?

William Haines story is one of the most extraordinary of all in old Hollywood. Winner, along with Eleanor Boardman of Samuel Goldwyn Company‘s New Faces of 1922 contest in 1922, he went on to star in over 20 films over the next decade before Louis B Mayer pulled the plug in dramatic fashion.

Haines was always himself and, startlingly, this meant he never tried too hard to hide his homosexuality not just off-duty but even in his films. He was an honest actor with a decent range who was naturalistic but also knowing and inclusive.

Billy Haines

This spritely musical grew out of Claudio Macor’s stage play of the same name dating from the 90’s, at a time when few of Haines' films were ever seen let alone available on home video – so great was his fall from Mayer’s good grace.  For this production, Macor wrote the book, along with Amy Rosenthal, and also directed.  The music was composed by Adam Meggido with lyrics from Duncan Walsh Atkins

The result is a joyous celebration, which allows Haines’ sense of humour to shine through and for a rapid connection to the visceral spirit of the times – a decade of decadence and dance.

Dylan Turner and Bradley Clarkson

A musical is a contrived art form in many ways but it serves this kind of story surprisingly well. Biographical dramas can get bogged down in the facts and strain underneath the weight of sequencing known chronology but with a musical you can just sing the story onwards as required. There’s dancing too with classy choreography from Nathan M Wright, making the most of a relatively small stage. And, of course, there’s  interior design!

Dylan Turner plays William Haines and has the right amount of good looks, charm and cock-sure confidence to convince as the man who seemed to breeze through to stardom. Bradley Clarkson plays Jimmy Shields, Haines’ life-partner who stuck with him through his rise, abrupt fall and subsequent re-emergence as an in-demand designer to the stars.

Vivien Carter and Clive Ward

The story begins with the elder Shields (Clive Ward) being interviewed by an architectural journalist, Betsy Dawson (an eye-catching Vivien Carter) not long after Haines’ death from lung cancer in 1973.

We move back to the early twenties as William travels to Hollywood with Eleanor Boardman (played by Holly Easterbrook)  -  another  great talent from the era who deserves more attention.

He meets Jimmy cruising through New York and their life-long affair begins, just as Billy’s silent career starts to take off, albeit after a few years worth of supporting roles.

Macor cleverly avoids too much film-by-film detail and prefers to use Billy’s relationship with Marion Davies to encapsulate his many leading lady friendships.

Faye Tozer looks very little like Davies but she puts in a memorable shift as William Randolph Hearst’s girlfriend – a fun loving party animal who finally found her niche alongside Haines in King Vidor’s classic Show People. Tozer’s voice is stage-strong and she carries off the peroxide playfulness very well.

Davies accepted Haines for who he is as did Anita Page, Boardman and Joan Crawford who famously described his relationship with Shields as the best marriage in Hollywood.

Faye Tozer and Mike McShane

But Haines’ paymasters were less forgiving. Mike McShane gives an almost show-stealing turn as the bluff hetero bully Louis B Mayer. LB was just about willing to tolerate Haines when he was good box office but he was quick to cut him down once his behaviour led to scandal.

Billy was caught cruising with a sailor and refused to marry his way to a PR alibi. In this version of events Pola Negri is suggested as the prime candidate for the lavender wedding. I’m not sure if this is true but it’s a good excuse for a routine with Kay Murphy excelling as a humorously-clichéd version of the Polish star.

That’s another thing about musicals… accuracy is less important than “feeling” and a good tune. I’m very happy to see anyone sing about silent film and in this case to accept a Negri from a parallel universe… conflated with Cyd Charisse’s Brooks’-inspired dancer in Singing in the Rain and still grieving her “Rudy” a decade after his death…

Billy goes off the rails as his career collapses and Jimmy deserts him temporarily. He returns just as his lover has hit rock bottom and the two begin to build their lives anew: We’ve Got Time is their anthem and beautifully expressed by both actors.

Marion also stands by the boys especially when they are driven from their LA beach front home by hoards of white supremacists intent on meting out rough justice after they believe that one of their sons was propositioned. In real life the case was dropped due to a total lack of evidence but no charges were brought against their attackers…

With Marion and WRH’s help, William begins to build a reputation as an interior designer, sprucing up some of her many properties before being commissioned to work on other stars’ houses.

I’d read about this aspect of Haines’ career but never appreciated just how successful and influential he became over the ensuing decades. For more details check out his company website and an interesting article in Architectural Digest. You can still buy Haines’ furniture but you need deep pockets!

The show ends with Design a song about matching your exteriors to your interior life: "...the life you live is all about design!" ...something William Haines did with style and persistence!

At the end my wife pretty much started the standing ovation and as I joined in we were clapping not just a great show from the talented cast but also Mr Haines himself.

Tailor Made Man runs until the start of April in the intimate Arts Theatre (home to some of the friendliest front of house staff in the Capital!) - if you’re anywhere near London I’d heartily recommend it. Hopefully it will tour and get the longer run it deserves.

IThankyou Rating *****