Geoffrey Rush is a whirlwind of psychological and physical energy in Belvoir’s THE DIARY OF A MADMAN (photo by Stephanie Berger)
Brooklyn Academy of Music
BAM Harvey Theater
651 Fulton St.
Through March 12, $25-$95
718-636-4100
www.bam.org
Back in 1989, an Australian actor named Geoffrey Rush starred as Poprischchin in David Holman’s adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s 1853 short story “The Diary of a Madman,” staged by the relatively young Belvoir Street Theatre company by director Neil Armfield. Now, with Armfield stepping down from his position as Belvoir’s artistic director after some seventeen years, he and Rush have decided that his swan song will be a revival of The Diary of a Madman, which has arrived at BAM following a recent run in Sydney. Rush is a whirlwind of energy as the lowly clerk of the ninth grade with big dreams, prancing about the stage with his bizarre hairstyle and ragged clothes, determined to be more than just the chap who mends his boss’s quills (while lusting after the boss’s daughter, one of several female characters wonderfully played by Yael Stone). A quirky, somewhat endearing character at first, the civil employee begins a slow descent into madness as he insists he smells dumplings, reads letters written from one dog to another, and thinks he is destined to fill a royal vacancy. The play stumbles here and there, flirting with political allegory, and meandering a bit too much in order to allow Rush to let go, and let go he does — interacting with the audience, evaluating the two-man band (Paul Cutlan and Erikki Veltheim) that plays Mussorgsky and adds creative sound effects, and gesturing wildly with his face and limbs in clownish, cartoonish ways. (Both he and Armfield have claimed Daffy Duck as a major influence.) Stone is outstanding as Poprischchin’s foil, primarily as his maid, the tough Tuovi, who is struggling to learn English, and also as the beautiful woman in white, Sophia, whom the clerk fumbles over whenever she is near. Mark Shelton’s splendid lighting design casts multiple, at times hulking shadows onto Catherine Martin and Christopher Tangney’s green, red, and yellow set, which juts out over the stage, evoking Poprischchin’s deeply troubled psyche. Rush’s 1989 tour-de-force performance led to his getting the role of David Helfgott in Shine, setting him off on a stellar film career that has included Shakespeare in Love, Quills, and The King’s Speech, each of which has resulted in Oscar nominations and/or wins, in addition to his 2009 Broadway debut, Armfield’s Belvoir production of Eugène Ionesco’s Exit the King, which earned Rush a Tony. It is a joy to have him back on the New York stage, and so quickly, especially in another exciting theatrical event.
The Brooklyn run, which continues through March 12, is nearly sold out, so get your tickets now; you’d be mad not to. Rush and Armfield will be participating in an Artist Talk at the Harvey on February 20, while writer Adam Phillips will give a lecture on “Acting Madness” in BAM’s Hillman Attic Studio on February 26, discussing The Diary of a Madman, Macbeth, which Cheek by Jowl brings to the Harvey April 5-16, and King Lear, which comes to BAM April 28 – June 5 in a Donmar Warehouse production starring Derek Jacobi.