Mervyn Glue as the drag queen of Toorak

Press, 9 June 1982, Page 21

Mervyn Glue as the drag queen of Toorak

"The Toorak poofter” . . . “the transvestite terror of Toorak.” Does that sound like the much-married Mervyn Glue, criminal lawyer, actor, reciter of topical doggerel, widely regarded as a good joker to drink with? It plainly does not, but that is the kind of character whose skin Mervyn Glue has spent the last three months trying to get inside. The name of the transvestite in question is Robert O'Brien, of Toorak, Melbourne, principal ■ character

in the Australian play, “The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin,” which Mervyn Glue will be performing at the Southern Ballet Theatre for the next two weeks.

He has been getting up at 5 o’clock every morning for months .to learn the two hours of dialogue for the oneman performance — dialogue which he has no doubt will shock many people.

■ "It’s a fantastic play,” he says. “It’s extremely rude, very funny, and very sad. It’s a ‘gay’ work of art.” . Although Mervyn Glue is not a homosexual, he knows

a bit about them, and about transvestites and trans-sexu-als, having represented some of them in court for one reason or another. He harbours no prejudice against homosexuals, and believes that the play handles the subject with compassion, insight and dignity. Nor does he mind getting dressed up in drag. He’s a. natural ham. But finding clothes was an interesting experience, especially the reactions of shopkeepers who were suspicious of his reason for wanting women’s clothes in his size. High-heeled shoes to fit Mr Glue’s large, somewhat awkward feet have yet to be found, and his negligee and dress have had to be specially made. But he seems pleased with his “beautiful blonde wig, which cost me dear.” Putting on the play itself is costing him dear. Although it is appearing under the

banner of the new Alternative Theatre, Mervyn Glue is financing it. He has bought the rights (after five years of trying), paid for the set (designed by Tony Geddis, built by Mervyn Glue and David Palmer), bought the costumesand properties, and is paying for the hiring of the theatre.

This is the biggest thing he has ever done, and he is putting everything into it. As he says, “There aren't many plays around for fat, middleaged actors of coarse bearing,” and this one could have been written for him. In fact it was written, by Steven J. Spears, for the Australian actor, Gordon

Chater, who performed it first at the Nimrod Theatre in King’s Cross, and then took it on to London for a phenomenal season in the West End. “I was absolutely electrified when I read the play,” Mervyn Glue recalls. He lent it to his friend and fellow lawyer/actor, Gerald Las-

celles, and asked him to direct him in it if they could get the rights. ' Unknown to them, Circa, another theatrical group, was also after the rights to “The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin” and will present

the play in Wellington soon. But Mervyn Glue will be in first. He has the South Island rights, and has tentative plans to tour the play if it is successful.

Mervyn Glue describes it as a superbly written play which has some magnificent moments for an actor. "Spears obviously knows his subject.” he says. "It’s about the frustration’s that an individual can have — the sense of isolation that a man has.l’ . ■

O'Brien is a teacher of elocution who has not completely mastered his own stammer. The Benjamin Franklin of the play is a young boy brought to O’Brien by an overpowering mother to have his own terrible stutter cured.

O’Brien, a homosexual transvestite whose neighbours regard him as a pervert, quickly develops an empathy with the boy, who shows great: promise as an actor.

“It's going to upset a lot of people,” Mervyn Glue says, “but people are pretty resilient these days.”

He- finds it such a powerful work,, running -the gamut of the emotions, that he has to resist the- temptation, to over: play it. Although part comedy; it is also starkly tragic, and poses the question of, the place, for tolerance and understanding. He . expects.: that .some “gays” will attend out of curiosity. “They may be critical of my interpretation,” he says, “and they may find parts of the play disturbing.” Mervyn Glue is approaching the two-hour solo, performance with great trepidation. It is going to be very, exacting to perform because of the many quick changes of costume — ("Quick, where’s the padded bra?") — and he regards the play as a perse nal challenge.

By

GARRY ARTHUR