'Are You Lonesome?’

Press, 16 July 1987, Page 8

'Are You Lonesome?’

“Are You Lonsome Tonight?” presented by Encore Productions at the Theatre Royal, July 15, for a limited season. Directed by Venessa Park. Reviewed by Mike O’Brien. A slick-haired, darkeyed Elvis looks broodily out from the glossy black cover. This is the young Elvis, the pretender. Unfortunately, Alan Bleasdale’s play is dominated by a paunchy, “past it” Presley, the failing King. Encore’s slick marketing of “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” promises much but largely disappoints. It is hard to credit that the talented Bleasdale could produce such a ponderous, stodgy script. His television technique of flashbacks, present and dream sequences spliced together gives opportunities for pace and interest but most of spoken text ■mere are no real lei&ng character parts, !

apart from the ageing Elvis, and the opening performance was characterised by some awkward, unconvincing acting. Positioning and movement were, at times, distracting. But when there were flashes of song the play ignited, and the presence of Presley was very real. In one glorious spot we got three songs on end but then we were subjected to one of the longest patches of dialogue of the show. Then the music died and we were faced with the testy, rather puffy Presley in his tackily opulent lounge. Largely sedentary, he indulges himself in gross excesses — videos of himself, pills of all prescription, and a meal of five eggs, pounds of bacon and a mountain of mash. True, he tries bravely to face himself and his inadequacies but the tone is mostly seedy. The play seeks to understand him — the not

so intelligent but oh-so-talented victim who is exploited by many. We can sympathise with him but it is hard to empathise and identify with him. Pat Urlich makes a splendid Younger Elvis. Both he and Pat Kearns (Presley the Elder) mimic well the mellow, rich and sensuous slur of the King. Urlich’s renditions were some of the bright high-spots in the play. Kearns in full voice was a powerful Presley indeed. There were times when one could really feel the songs recreating the presence of the Elvis phenomenon. It is tempting to say that the role of the older Elvis demanded more delicacy and sensitivity but to be fair to Kearns, Presley was a fairly unattractive and unbearable character near the end. The play’s tedium lay in giving us too much of the jaded, failing King and not enoug* of the hip-rolling, brooding rebel of rock.