BLACK LEATHER
by Dale Reynolds – Stagehappenings
What can you say about a talented writer who undercuts his own material by starring in it? No matter how bizarre the Los Angeles Fringe Community can be, sometimes writing talent will, indeed, shine through. But then to sabotage it by putting yourself in the lead? Doesn’t work.
Michael Sargent, somewhere in his mid-to-late 30s (I imagine), has been present in the LAFC for maybe fifteen years or so. I used to catch his plays at the old CAST Theatre in East Hollywood. Now, the Unknown Theatre, in Hollywood proper, is having a Sargent festival, as their playwright-in-resident.
The first play, BLACK LEATHER, is about 75 minutes long. Set in 1981, the play purports to be based on the life of the late, extremely scandalous photographer, Robert Mapplethorpe, here called Robert Krapplethorpe, presumably to escape the intellectual property lawyers. (No actual photographs of Mapplethorpe’s brilliant-but-disturbing images are used.)
Sargent’s play is intriguing, concentrating as it does on his lead character’s insecurities, fueling his need for the drug-taking and the S&M bare-backing male-on-male sex, which led to his death from AIDS in 1989. Although Mapplethorpe is well-regarded for the challenging aspects of his nudes, both male and female, as well as the delicacy of his images of flowers, it was the manner in which he stuck to classical aesthetic standards that ultimately made his reputation.
Because the producers and writer were not allowed to exhibit his materials, we are left, by default, with the man himself. That he was bold, even forward-thinking, in his exploration of the S&M movement means that the playwright has that aspect of his life to reveal, as well as revel in. And reveal all it does: black-on-white male sex, frontal nudity, profanity, drug-taking. None of this is particularly original, especially for LAFC, but it certainly is in-your-face.
But when your lead character is on stage for every scene, then you’d better cast an actor of some strength and ability to take risks. Sargent has no business putting himself into the lead as he lacks the skills needed to explore the emotional and intellectual contradictions inherent in his subject. He simply was awful and laid a fatal chill onto his play. Director Chris Covics stages his actors reasonably well, but, if the actors are so terrified of the nudity (except for Sargent) or Covics is worried about audience reaction, then don’t do it. Faint heart makes for bad art.
The Unknown Theatre is a large converted former industrial work-space with high ceilings and a small seating capacity, which works for most plays. And here, director Covics has cast some fine actors in supporting roles: Jan Monroe, Kathy Bell Denton, Kevin Daniels, Dustin David and Liz Davies, and designed the excellent set for this flawed production. So your desire to see this play will certainly depend on how much of a lover of Mapplethorpe’s work you are. Otherwise, you’re on your own.
