Mauckingbird Theater Company's poster for TRU & the Threshing Floor
Not once during Mauckingbird Theater Company’s production of TRU does Truman Capote actually sit down to write — the talent that made him such a notable personality for decades.
It’s a revealing choice by the show’s own author, Jay Presson Allen, that demonstrates Capote’s lack of direction and building depression after achieving literary notoriety. During the show, he even laments, “I used to be famous because I wrote books. Now I’m famous because I’m famous.”
It’s that Paris-Hilton-meets-Marcel-Proust version of Capote that TRU seeks to portray. While parading around his lavish New York apartment, Capote makes reference to many of the more infamous events from his storied life — from the 1966 Black and White Ball, dubbed “the party of the decade,” to the struggles he faced writing In Cold Blood.
The play focuses primarily on the alienation he experienced after he allowed a chapter from his unfinished “masterpiece,” Answered Prayers, to be published in Esquire Magazine. In the passage he lashed out at the New York elite who welcomed him into their inner circle only to ostracize him after he wrote about them. During the production, Capote often notes the differences between artists and the rich — two identities he now straddles, not really fitting into either.
Chris Faith’s performance captures this angst in Capote well in the one-man production while hamming it up with the author’s trademark high-pitched lisp and mannerisms. In a mix of primarily one-sided phone calls, reenactments and monologues, Faith as Capote justifies everything from his salacious writing to his alcoholism with sharp wit and an entertaining delivery.
Faith tap dances in slippers when he’s sad, flops himself onto the couch after good and bad calls and addresses audience members directly on literary references and quips they may have missed. His resulting energy propels the production and makes it incredibly fun to watch.
To learn more about the production, and to pick up some tickets, visit the Mauckingbird Theatre Company’s official website.
TRU
January 8th – 31st, 2009
Adults $20, Seniors $18, Students $15
www.mauckingbirdtheatreco.org
Adrienne Theater
2030 Samson St, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 923-8909
