TEA 'N CRISP

TEA ‘N CRISP; Richard Louis James plays The Notorious Quentin Crisp at the SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter Street, Sundays @ 2:30 pm, July thru August. www.sfplayhouse.org.

NOTORIOUS NO MORE

Long before the Stonewall riots of 1969 when homosexuals rebelled against the tyranny of perverted law and the condemnation of the populous, Quentin Crisp, born Denis Charles Pratt, staged his quiet personal revolt by being what he was born to be. He became a notorious, flamboyant, outrageous homosexual in the center of London in the 1930s when mainstream English establishment and society regarded such sexuality as deviant and criminal. Today, English and American societies would regard his proclivity for wearing bright make-up, dyeing his long hair crimson, painting his fingernails and wearing sandals to display his painted toenails as being just “one of the boys.”

However, beyond that external shell, used as a weapon of defense, there was an individual determination to live life on his own terms. His well-received autobiography, The Naked Civil Servant, later made into a movie, stripped the protective veneer revealing his true nature as a gentle, bon vivant with a great sense of humor and serious inner thoughts. During his last years people sought his commentary, taking part in the acclaimed The Celluloid Closet. . He gained respect with his autobiographical monolog An Evening with Quentin Crisp that he performed throughout the country.

Award winning Bay Area character actor Richard Louis James uses this monolog as the basis for his critically acclaimed Tea ‘N Crisp which returns to the SF Playhouse. Before James takes the stage as Quentin Crisp we are appropriately treated to a medley of Noel Coward songs and one of his first statements is “You will hear straight talk from a bent person.” James keeps Crisp’s format devoting the first section of this one-hour show to bringing us up-to-date on his past life and philosophy. In the second act, questions written during intermission are answered with candor and humor.

A word that best describes Crisp’s philosophy is “style.” He encourages us to “enter the world of being”, not to keep up with the Joneses but rather to “drag the Joneses to your level.” “Determine what image you wish to project . . . and do it!” “Beauty is a waste of time.” Other Crisp aphorisms abound and James delivers them with complete assurance, becoming Quentin Crisp both in physical look (see photo) and conviction with attitude without offense. He denigrates his philistine opinions and advises not to make them our own. He bemoans the fact that our privacy is being usurped and machines/internet will triumph. His idol is Tallulah Bankhead who said, “I take my case to the people.”

Do arrange to share tea and crisps on a Sunday afternoon with Quentin Crisp who was a legend in his time, is notorious no more and is given an extended life by Richard Louis Pratt’s superb performance.
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of TheatreWorld Internet Magazine.