Resident Alien Saw Resident Alien last light, T…
Resident Alien
Saw Resident Alien last light, Tim Fountain's one-man show about Spike hero Quentin Crisp. Set within Quentin's stylishly squalid tiny living room on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Bette Bourne turns in an uncanny performance as the Stately Homo through a spectacular two hour monologue. Not only does Bourne perfectly capture Quentin's mannerisms and radiates his intelligence and wit, the play's script itself is a seamless stringing together of Crisp's own sparkling aphorisms and opinions. Resident Alien succeeds in producing a portrait of Quentin through his own words - his wit wasn't that of a cut-price raconteur, but that of a man with a deeply unsentimental but affectionate outlook on the absurdity of life - his own particularly. Bourne capture Quentin's absolute absence of self-pity and his sharpness at cutting through the hypocrisy of his fellow humans in all aspects of life, whether it be love, politics, fame or housecleaning.
I have to confess that I left the play feeling elated but also a little sad - sentimental, even - as it reminded me of when I went to lunch with Quentin, as so many have done, with my friend Jake. Such was the strength of Bourne's performance that it reminded us both of the afternoon we spent with him, and being invited back to his room for tea. Resident Alien's very success in celebrating Quentin's life makes his absence, as both a person and a personality, even more palpable.
The current run of Resident Alien in London is due to finish tonight but the script is available from Nick Hern Books. And of course, you should read all of Quentin's own books too.
